Innocent love
Two kids
Both only in fifth grade
One day he walked over to her
They talked for a while
He gave her his email and she gave him hers
The emails started.
Poor innocent love
Back and Forth they traveled
They talked about random things
The first thing she would do when she got home
would be check her email
They never talked at school
He talked to her at church
Ever time he did she would end up blushing
Poor innocent love
He got in a fight with his best friend over her
He didn't understand why he
wanted to talk to a girl
(they're only in 5th grade)
The first person he told about the fight was her
He never wanted to talk to him again
Poor innocent love
What he didn't realize was one angry message
his best friend had sent him contained a secret
a secret he didn't want her to know
without knowing this he forwarded to her
Only feeling his anger
Poor innocent love
The secret was that he liked her
He didn't know that she liked him back.
When she sent him an email back telling him
that she liked him
He was so happy
Then something happened
She received no more emails from him
she sent him a dozens emails,
asking him whats wrong
Poor innocent love
He never wrote back
To this day she still doesn't know what happened
And that was four years ago
Poor innocent love
by becca8
Monday, March 28, 2011
What A Life, What A Girl ! ?
What A Life, What A Girl!?
by Pymp4evr
A young relationship can never last long,
To get through some days, you must be strong.
Should have listened to the words my friends gave me,
Too late, puppy love got a grip of my heart and raped me.
I still like her and wish it would get through,
I screwed, so what, whatcha gonna do.
You know what they say, opposites attract,
Too bad with same minds no time to react.
Too much in common with too little time,
Sitting here wishing you'd still be mine.
If I'd have waited just a little bit longer,
The relationship would grow, friendship be stronger.
Never realize the precious time that love takes,
Cause the puppy inside me ain't ready for heart break.
Time heals all, through the best and the worst,
Even when laid out, toes up, in a hearse.
Sometimes I feel stupid even when not my fault,
Cause still intact, though beat up is my heart.
When you melt pure gold, it's as gold as ever,
When you break a heart, it's broken forever.
Time comes in relationships to never say never,
Cause in my heart you'll live forever and ever.
by Pymp4evr
A young relationship can never last long,
To get through some days, you must be strong.
Should have listened to the words my friends gave me,
Too late, puppy love got a grip of my heart and raped me.
I still like her and wish it would get through,
I screwed, so what, whatcha gonna do.
You know what they say, opposites attract,
Too bad with same minds no time to react.
Too much in common with too little time,
Sitting here wishing you'd still be mine.
If I'd have waited just a little bit longer,
The relationship would grow, friendship be stronger.
Never realize the precious time that love takes,
Cause the puppy inside me ain't ready for heart break.
Time heals all, through the best and the worst,
Even when laid out, toes up, in a hearse.
Sometimes I feel stupid even when not my fault,
Cause still intact, though beat up is my heart.
When you melt pure gold, it's as gold as ever,
When you break a heart, it's broken forever.
Time comes in relationships to never say never,
Cause in my heart you'll live forever and ever.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Teri aankho ke siva doponiya me rakha kya hai (Enlgish Translaton of Gazal)
What else is there in the world apart from your eyes
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
In those pathways of eyes are the faces of the laughter and happiness
of spring
All my dream lands are here in your eyes
In those pathways of eyes are the faces of the laughter and happiness
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
What else is there in the world apart from your lovely eyes
In your eyes reside the image/picture of my future
i
With kohl of love my destiny written
In your eyes reside the image/picture of my future
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
What else is there in the world apart from your lovely eyes
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
What else is there in the world apart from your lovely eyes
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
In those pathways of eyes are the faces of the laughter and happiness
of spring
All my dream lands are here in your eyes
In those pathways of eyes are the faces of the laughter and happiness
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
What else is there in the world apart from your lovely eyes
In your eyes reside the image/picture of my future
i
With kohl of love my destiny written
In your eyes reside the image/picture of my future
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
What else is there in the world apart from your lovely eyes
When they look up, the morning starts, when they close, darkness prevails
My life and death depends on these eyelashes
What else is there in the world apart from your lovely eyes
Friday, March 25, 2011
Sufism And Love : One And The Same.
Sufism And Love : One And The Same
"When I come to Love, I am ashamed of all,
That I have ever said about Love."
........Rumi
Sufism : An Overview
The substance of Sufism is the Truth and the definition of Sufism is the selfless experiencing and actualization of the Truth. The practice of Sufism is the intention to go towards the Truth, by means of love and devotion. This is called the Tariqat, the Spiritual Path or way towards God. The sufi is one who is a lover of Truth, who by means of love and devotion moves towards the Truth, towards the Perfection which all are truly seeking. As necessitated by Love's jealousy, the sufi is taken away from all except the Truth-Reality. For this reason, in Sufism it is said that, "Those who are inclined towards the hereafter can not pay attention to the material world. Likewise, those who are involved in the material world can not concern themselves with the hereafter. But the sufi (because of Love' s jealousy) is unable to attend to either of these worlds."
Concerning this same idea, Maulana Shebli Nomani has said, "One who dies for the love of the material world, dies a hypocrite. One who dies for the love of the hereafter, dies an ascetic. But one who dies for the love of the Truth, dies a sufi."
Sufism : A Way Of Being
Sufism is a school for the actualization of divine ethics. It involves an enlightened inner being, not intellectual proof; revelation and witnessing, not logic. By divine ethics, we are referring to ethics which transcend mere social convention; a way of being which is the actualization of the attributes of God. To explain the Truth is indeed a difficult task. Words, being limited, can never really express the Perfection of the Absolute, the Unbound. Thus, for those who are imperfect, words create doubt and misunderstanding. Yet:
"If one cannot drink up the entire ocean,
One can drink to one's limit."
Philosophers have written volumes and spoken endlessly of the Truth, but somehow their efforts have always fallen short. For the sufi, philosophers are those who view the Perfection of the Absolute from a limited perspective; so all they see is part of the Absolute, not the Infinite in its entirety. It is indeed true that what philosophers see is correct; nevertheless, it is only a part of the whole.
One is reminded of Rumi's well-known story of a group of men in India who had never seen an elephant. One day they came to a place where an elephant was. In complete darkness they approached the animal, each man feeling it. Afterwards, they described what they thought they had perceived. Of course their descriptions were different. He who had felt a leg, imagined the elephant to be a pillar. The man who felt the animal's ear, described the elephant as a fan, and so on. Each one of their descriptions with respect to the various parts they had experienced was true. However, as far as accurately describing the whole, their conceptions had all fallen short. If they had had a candle, the difference of opinions would not have come about. The candle's light would have revealed the elephant as a whole.
Only by the light of the Spiritual Path and the mystic way can the Truth really be actualized. In order for one to truly witness the Perfection of the Absolute, one must see with one's inner being, which perceives the whole of Reality. This witnessing happens when one becomes perfect, losing one's (partial) existence in the Whole. If the Whole is likened to the Ocean, and the part to a drop, the sufi says that witnessing the Ocean with the eye of a drop is impossible. However, when the drop becomes one with the Ocean, it sees the Ocean with the eye of the Ocean.
Sufism : Towards Realization Of Perfection
Man is dominated by his self's desires and fears. Those who are ensnared in these habitual impulses are out of harmony with the Divine Nature, and thus ill. As a result of this illness, feelings become disturbed and accordingly, thoughts and perceptions become unsound. Thus, one's faith as well as one's knowledge of the Truth strays from what is real.
In order to follow the way to Perfection, one must first rectify these incorrect thought processes and transmute one's desires and fears. This is accomplished by coming into harmony with the Divine Nature. This way of harmony (the Spiritual Path) consists of spiritual poverty, devotion, and the continuous, selfless remembrance of God. In this way, one comes to perceive the Truth as it really is.
Sufism : Annihilation of Self
In order to travel the path, the sufi needs strength supplied by proper bodily nourishment. It has been said that whatever the sufi eats is transformed into spiritual qualities and light. However, the food of others, since it but serves their own desires and fears, only strengthens their selfish attachments and takes them further away from the Truth.
"This one eats and only,
Stinginess and envy result.
While that one eats and there is but,
The light of the One.
This one eats and only,
Impurity comes about.
While that one eats and all becomes,
the Light of God."
It is clear then, that Sufism is not based upon ascetic practices such as abstinence from food. In Sufism, the traveler on God's Way is only instructed to abstain from food when he is sick or entangled in excessive desire or fear. In this case, the Master or Spiritual Guide permits one to refrain from eating for a brief period of time, and instead directs one to concentrate on spiritual practices. In this way, the excess is transmuted and the seeker's inner being becomes harmonious. Then, the dervish will be enabled to continue on the dangerous ascent to the Infinite.
Some have thought that by fasting the strength necessary for purification is attained. On the contrary, in Sufism abstinence alone is not enough to purify the self. It is true that asceticism and abstinence give one a certain spiritual state, and in this state one's perception may be clarified. But if the self is likened to a dragon that by fasting becomes powerless, it is certain that when the fast is broken and enough food is eaten, the dragon will revive, and stronger than ever will go about attempting to fulfill its desires.
In Sufism, it is by the Tariqat (Spiritual Path) that the self is gradually purified and transformed into Divine Attributes, until there is nothing left of one's compulsive self. Then all that remains is the Perfect, Divine Self. In such extensive and precise work, asceticism and abstinence are virtually worthless.
Sufism : Purification of Self
In Sufism the stages of purification are:
1. self becoming emptied
2. self becoming illuminated
3. self becoming adorned
4. self-having-passed-away (fana)
These stages occur in the course of the selfless remembrance of God (zekr). The first stage, becoming emptied, entails letting go of negative qualities, the desires which originate from the self. The second stage of becoming illuminated involves polishing the heart and soul of the tarnish of belief in and attachment to the self. In the third stage, one's inner being becomes adorned by Divine Attributes. Ultimately, the being of the disciple becomes completely filled by the Attributes of the Truth-Reality, to the extent that there is no sign of his own limited existence. This fourth stage is called "self-having passed-away" (fana).
"I thought of You so often,
That I completely became You.
Little by little You drew near,
And slowly but slowly I passed away."
The Sufi, through these stages of purification, travels the inner way, the Spiritual Path (Tariqat). But he or she can do so only by following the duties and obligations of Islam (Shariat). Having traveled this path, the disciple becomes a perfect being and arrives at the threshold of the Truth (Haqiqat). Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said, "The Shariat is my speech, the Tariqat my actions (way of being), and Haqiqat my states."
One could liken the journey within the Haqiqat, within the Truth, to training in a divine university, the "Tavern of Ruin" (kharabat). In this true center for higher education there are no professors, one's only guide being Absolute Love. Here one's only teacher is Love, one's books are Love, and one's being is Love.
Before a perfect being enters this university, he or she can be defined. However, upon entering the Truth, one is indefinable, beyond the realm of words.
"Footprints but come to the Ocean's shore;
Therein, no trace remains."
........Rumi
If you ask his name, like Bayazid, he answers, "I lost him years ago. The more I seek him, the less I find." If you ask of his religion, like Rumi, he answers:
"The way of a lover is not among the religions;
The church and state of lovers is God."
If you ask how he is, like Bayazid he answers, "There is nothing under my cloak but Allah." If he speaks, like Hallaj, you may hear him sing, "I am the Truth." Such words can truly come only from perfect beings who have lost their 'selves' and become the manifestation of the Divine Nature and Divine Mysteries. Their selves have departed and only God remains.
"Hot-u tuhinji hanj-a mein puchin kuh-u paryan-a,
"We nuhnu aqrab ileh min hablul wareed" tuhnjo tohin san-u,
Pahnjo aahey pan-u aado ajiban kh-e."
"Beloved within you and you seek him here and there
He is "closer to you than your vein jugular,"
Yourself is the hurdle, between your love and you."
................Bhitai
Source : Makhdoom's Quality Quest
"When I come to Love, I am ashamed of all,
That I have ever said about Love."
........Rumi
Sufism : An Overview
The substance of Sufism is the Truth and the definition of Sufism is the selfless experiencing and actualization of the Truth. The practice of Sufism is the intention to go towards the Truth, by means of love and devotion. This is called the Tariqat, the Spiritual Path or way towards God. The sufi is one who is a lover of Truth, who by means of love and devotion moves towards the Truth, towards the Perfection which all are truly seeking. As necessitated by Love's jealousy, the sufi is taken away from all except the Truth-Reality. For this reason, in Sufism it is said that, "Those who are inclined towards the hereafter can not pay attention to the material world. Likewise, those who are involved in the material world can not concern themselves with the hereafter. But the sufi (because of Love' s jealousy) is unable to attend to either of these worlds."
Concerning this same idea, Maulana Shebli Nomani has said, "One who dies for the love of the material world, dies a hypocrite. One who dies for the love of the hereafter, dies an ascetic. But one who dies for the love of the Truth, dies a sufi."
Sufism : A Way Of Being
Sufism is a school for the actualization of divine ethics. It involves an enlightened inner being, not intellectual proof; revelation and witnessing, not logic. By divine ethics, we are referring to ethics which transcend mere social convention; a way of being which is the actualization of the attributes of God. To explain the Truth is indeed a difficult task. Words, being limited, can never really express the Perfection of the Absolute, the Unbound. Thus, for those who are imperfect, words create doubt and misunderstanding. Yet:
"If one cannot drink up the entire ocean,
One can drink to one's limit."
Philosophers have written volumes and spoken endlessly of the Truth, but somehow their efforts have always fallen short. For the sufi, philosophers are those who view the Perfection of the Absolute from a limited perspective; so all they see is part of the Absolute, not the Infinite in its entirety. It is indeed true that what philosophers see is correct; nevertheless, it is only a part of the whole.
One is reminded of Rumi's well-known story of a group of men in India who had never seen an elephant. One day they came to a place where an elephant was. In complete darkness they approached the animal, each man feeling it. Afterwards, they described what they thought they had perceived. Of course their descriptions were different. He who had felt a leg, imagined the elephant to be a pillar. The man who felt the animal's ear, described the elephant as a fan, and so on. Each one of their descriptions with respect to the various parts they had experienced was true. However, as far as accurately describing the whole, their conceptions had all fallen short. If they had had a candle, the difference of opinions would not have come about. The candle's light would have revealed the elephant as a whole.
Only by the light of the Spiritual Path and the mystic way can the Truth really be actualized. In order for one to truly witness the Perfection of the Absolute, one must see with one's inner being, which perceives the whole of Reality. This witnessing happens when one becomes perfect, losing one's (partial) existence in the Whole. If the Whole is likened to the Ocean, and the part to a drop, the sufi says that witnessing the Ocean with the eye of a drop is impossible. However, when the drop becomes one with the Ocean, it sees the Ocean with the eye of the Ocean.
Sufism : Towards Realization Of Perfection
Man is dominated by his self's desires and fears. Those who are ensnared in these habitual impulses are out of harmony with the Divine Nature, and thus ill. As a result of this illness, feelings become disturbed and accordingly, thoughts and perceptions become unsound. Thus, one's faith as well as one's knowledge of the Truth strays from what is real.
In order to follow the way to Perfection, one must first rectify these incorrect thought processes and transmute one's desires and fears. This is accomplished by coming into harmony with the Divine Nature. This way of harmony (the Spiritual Path) consists of spiritual poverty, devotion, and the continuous, selfless remembrance of God. In this way, one comes to perceive the Truth as it really is.
Sufism : Annihilation of Self
In order to travel the path, the sufi needs strength supplied by proper bodily nourishment. It has been said that whatever the sufi eats is transformed into spiritual qualities and light. However, the food of others, since it but serves their own desires and fears, only strengthens their selfish attachments and takes them further away from the Truth.
"This one eats and only,
Stinginess and envy result.
While that one eats and there is but,
The light of the One.
This one eats and only,
Impurity comes about.
While that one eats and all becomes,
the Light of God."
It is clear then, that Sufism is not based upon ascetic practices such as abstinence from food. In Sufism, the traveler on God's Way is only instructed to abstain from food when he is sick or entangled in excessive desire or fear. In this case, the Master or Spiritual Guide permits one to refrain from eating for a brief period of time, and instead directs one to concentrate on spiritual practices. In this way, the excess is transmuted and the seeker's inner being becomes harmonious. Then, the dervish will be enabled to continue on the dangerous ascent to the Infinite.
Some have thought that by fasting the strength necessary for purification is attained. On the contrary, in Sufism abstinence alone is not enough to purify the self. It is true that asceticism and abstinence give one a certain spiritual state, and in this state one's perception may be clarified. But if the self is likened to a dragon that by fasting becomes powerless, it is certain that when the fast is broken and enough food is eaten, the dragon will revive, and stronger than ever will go about attempting to fulfill its desires.
In Sufism, it is by the Tariqat (Spiritual Path) that the self is gradually purified and transformed into Divine Attributes, until there is nothing left of one's compulsive self. Then all that remains is the Perfect, Divine Self. In such extensive and precise work, asceticism and abstinence are virtually worthless.
Sufism : Purification of Self
In Sufism the stages of purification are:
1. self becoming emptied
2. self becoming illuminated
3. self becoming adorned
4. self-having-passed-away (fana)
These stages occur in the course of the selfless remembrance of God (zekr). The first stage, becoming emptied, entails letting go of negative qualities, the desires which originate from the self. The second stage of becoming illuminated involves polishing the heart and soul of the tarnish of belief in and attachment to the self. In the third stage, one's inner being becomes adorned by Divine Attributes. Ultimately, the being of the disciple becomes completely filled by the Attributes of the Truth-Reality, to the extent that there is no sign of his own limited existence. This fourth stage is called "self-having passed-away" (fana).
"I thought of You so often,
That I completely became You.
Little by little You drew near,
And slowly but slowly I passed away."
The Sufi, through these stages of purification, travels the inner way, the Spiritual Path (Tariqat). But he or she can do so only by following the duties and obligations of Islam (Shariat). Having traveled this path, the disciple becomes a perfect being and arrives at the threshold of the Truth (Haqiqat). Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said, "The Shariat is my speech, the Tariqat my actions (way of being), and Haqiqat my states."
One could liken the journey within the Haqiqat, within the Truth, to training in a divine university, the "Tavern of Ruin" (kharabat). In this true center for higher education there are no professors, one's only guide being Absolute Love. Here one's only teacher is Love, one's books are Love, and one's being is Love.
Before a perfect being enters this university, he or she can be defined. However, upon entering the Truth, one is indefinable, beyond the realm of words.
"Footprints but come to the Ocean's shore;
Therein, no trace remains."
........Rumi
If you ask his name, like Bayazid, he answers, "I lost him years ago. The more I seek him, the less I find." If you ask of his religion, like Rumi, he answers:
"The way of a lover is not among the religions;
The church and state of lovers is God."
If you ask how he is, like Bayazid he answers, "There is nothing under my cloak but Allah." If he speaks, like Hallaj, you may hear him sing, "I am the Truth." Such words can truly come only from perfect beings who have lost their 'selves' and become the manifestation of the Divine Nature and Divine Mysteries. Their selves have departed and only God remains.
"Hot-u tuhinji hanj-a mein puchin kuh-u paryan-a,
"We nuhnu aqrab ileh min hablul wareed" tuhnjo tohin san-u,
Pahnjo aahey pan-u aado ajiban kh-e."
"Beloved within you and you seek him here and there
He is "closer to you than your vein jugular,"
Yourself is the hurdle, between your love and you."
................Bhitai
Source : Makhdoom's Quality Quest
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Adolf Hitler Quotes
Founder and leader of National Socialism (Nazism), and German dictator
"Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live."
- Adolf Hitler
"In actual fact the pacifistic-humane idea is perfectly all right perhaps when the highest type of man has previously conquered and subjected the world to an extent that makes him the sole ruler of this earth… Therefore, first struggle and then perhaps pacifism."
- Adolf Hitler
"The [Nazi party] should not become a constable of public opinion, but must dominate it. It must not become a servant of the masses, but their master!"
- Adolf Hitler
"For there is one thing we must never forget… the majority can never replace the man. And no more than a hundred empty heads make one wise man will an heroic decision arise from a hundred cowards."
- Adolf Hitler
"There must be no majority decisions, but only responsible persons, and the word 'council' must be restored to its original meaning. Surely every man will have advisers by his side, but the decision will be made by one man."
- Adolf Hitler
"Never forget that the most sacred right on this earth is mans right to have the earth to till with his own hands, the most sacred sacrifice the blood that a man sheds for this earth...."
- Adolf Hitler
"The doom of a nation can be averted only by a storm of flowing passion, but only those who are passionate themselves can arouse passion in others."
- Adolf Hitler
"It must be thoroughly understood that the lost land will never be won back by solemn appeals to the God, nor by hopes in any League of Nations, but only by the force of arms."
- Adolf Hitler
"How to achieve the moral breakdown of the enemy before the war has started -- that is the problem that interests me. Whoever has experienced war at the front will want to refrain from all avoidable bloodshed."
- Adolf Hitler (from Hitler Speaks)
"Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless"
- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf"
"A single blow must destroy the enemy... without regard of losses... a gigantic all-destroying blow."
- Adolf Hitler
"Become strong again in spirit, strong in will, strong in endurance, strong to bear all sacrifices"
- Adolf Hitler
"Strength lies not in defense but in attack."
- Adolf Hitler
"Words build bridges into unexplored regions"
- Adolf Hitler
"Great liars are also great magicians"
- Adolf Hitler
"How fortunate for leaders that men do not think."
- Adolf Hitler
"People have killed only when they could not achieve their aim in other ways ... there is a broadened strategy, with intellectual weapons ... why should I demoralize the enemy by military means if I can do so better and more cheaply in other ways?"
- Adolf Hitler
"Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future."
- Adolf Hitler
"Let us never forget the duty, which we have taken upon us"
- Adolf Hitler
"Just as the world cannot live on wars, so people cannot on revolutions"
- Adolf Hitler
"Our strategy is to destroy the enemy from within, to conquer him through himself."
- Adolf Hitler
"Germany is prepared to agree to any solemn pact of non-aggression, because she does not think of attacking but only acquiring security."
- Adolf Hitler (1933)
"We are all proud that through God's powerful aid, we have become once more true Germans"
- Adolf Hitler
"National Socialist Germany wants peace because of its fundamental convictions. And it wants peace also owing to the realization of the simple primitive fact that no war would be likely essentially to alter the distress in Europe... The principal effect of every war is to destroy the flower of the nation... Germany needs peace and desires peace!"
- Adolf Hitler (May 21, 1935)
"England, unlike in 1914, will not allow herself to blunder into a war lasting for years.... Such is the fate of rich countries.. .Not even England has the money nowadays to fight a world war. What should England fight for? You don't get yourself killed over an ally."
- Adolf Hitler (1939)
"The personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew"
- Adolf Hitler
"The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness."
- Adolf Hitler (1941)
"To be a leader means to be able to move masses"
- Adolf Hitler
"Whatever goal, man has reached is due to his originality plus his brutality"
- Adolf Hitler
"We will not capitulate - no, never! We may be destroyed, but if we are, we shall drag a world with us - a world in flames."
- Adolf Hitler
"Struggle is the father of all things. It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle. If you do not fight, life will never be won"
- Adolf Hitler
"There could be no issue between the Church and the State. The Church, as such, has nothing to do with political affairs. On the other hand, the State has nothing to do with the faith or inner organization of the Church"
- Adolf Hitler
It must be thoroughly understood that the lost land will never be won back by solemn appeals to the God, nor by hopes in any League of Nations, but only by the force of arms.
- Adolf Hitler
"The man who has no sense of history, is like a man who has no ears or eyes"
- Adolf Hitler
"It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge"
- Adolf Hitler
"Man has become great through struggle"
- Adolf Hitler
"The German people are not a warlike nation. It is a soldierly one, which means it does not want a war, but does not fear it. It loves peace but also loves its honor and freedom"
- Adolf Hitler
Always before God and the world, the stronger has the right to carry through what he wills"
- Adolf Hitler
"The majority can never replace the man"
- Adolf Hitler
"What we have to fight for is the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may be enabled to fulfill the mission assigned to it by the creator"
- Adolf Hitler
"I will never allow anyone to divide this people once more into religious camps, each fighting the other"
- Adolf Hitler
"Struggle is the father of all things, virtue lies in blood, leadership is primary and decisive"
- Adolf Hitler
"The world will not help, the people must help themselves. Its own strength is the source of life. That strength the Almighty has given us to use; that in it and through it, we may wage the battle of our life The others in the past years have not had the blessing of the Almighty - of Him who in the last resort, whatever man may do, holds in His hands the final decision. Lord God, let us never hesitate or play the coward"
- Adolf Hitler
"Only force rules. Force is the first law"
- Adolf Hitler
"The only people I have been able to use are those who fought"
- Adolf Hitler
"The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force."
- Adolph Hitler
"The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category."
- Adolph Hitler
"The victor will never be asked if he told the truth."
- Adolph Hitler Quotes
"When an opponent declares, "I will not come over to your side," I calmly say, "Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community."
- Adolph Hitler Quotes
"Who says I am not under the special protection of God?"
- Adolph Hitler Quotes
Source : Military Quotes.
"Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live."
- Adolf Hitler
"In actual fact the pacifistic-humane idea is perfectly all right perhaps when the highest type of man has previously conquered and subjected the world to an extent that makes him the sole ruler of this earth… Therefore, first struggle and then perhaps pacifism."
- Adolf Hitler
"The [Nazi party] should not become a constable of public opinion, but must dominate it. It must not become a servant of the masses, but their master!"
- Adolf Hitler
"For there is one thing we must never forget… the majority can never replace the man. And no more than a hundred empty heads make one wise man will an heroic decision arise from a hundred cowards."
- Adolf Hitler
"There must be no majority decisions, but only responsible persons, and the word 'council' must be restored to its original meaning. Surely every man will have advisers by his side, but the decision will be made by one man."
- Adolf Hitler
"Never forget that the most sacred right on this earth is mans right to have the earth to till with his own hands, the most sacred sacrifice the blood that a man sheds for this earth...."
- Adolf Hitler
"The doom of a nation can be averted only by a storm of flowing passion, but only those who are passionate themselves can arouse passion in others."
- Adolf Hitler
"It must be thoroughly understood that the lost land will never be won back by solemn appeals to the God, nor by hopes in any League of Nations, but only by the force of arms."
- Adolf Hitler
"How to achieve the moral breakdown of the enemy before the war has started -- that is the problem that interests me. Whoever has experienced war at the front will want to refrain from all avoidable bloodshed."
- Adolf Hitler (from Hitler Speaks)
"Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless"
- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf"
"A single blow must destroy the enemy... without regard of losses... a gigantic all-destroying blow."
- Adolf Hitler
"Become strong again in spirit, strong in will, strong in endurance, strong to bear all sacrifices"
- Adolf Hitler
"Strength lies not in defense but in attack."
- Adolf Hitler
"Words build bridges into unexplored regions"
- Adolf Hitler
"Great liars are also great magicians"
- Adolf Hitler
"How fortunate for leaders that men do not think."
- Adolf Hitler
"People have killed only when they could not achieve their aim in other ways ... there is a broadened strategy, with intellectual weapons ... why should I demoralize the enemy by military means if I can do so better and more cheaply in other ways?"
- Adolf Hitler
"Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future."
- Adolf Hitler
"Let us never forget the duty, which we have taken upon us"
- Adolf Hitler
"Just as the world cannot live on wars, so people cannot on revolutions"
- Adolf Hitler
"Our strategy is to destroy the enemy from within, to conquer him through himself."
- Adolf Hitler
"Germany is prepared to agree to any solemn pact of non-aggression, because she does not think of attacking but only acquiring security."
- Adolf Hitler (1933)
"We are all proud that through God's powerful aid, we have become once more true Germans"
- Adolf Hitler
"National Socialist Germany wants peace because of its fundamental convictions. And it wants peace also owing to the realization of the simple primitive fact that no war would be likely essentially to alter the distress in Europe... The principal effect of every war is to destroy the flower of the nation... Germany needs peace and desires peace!"
- Adolf Hitler (May 21, 1935)
"England, unlike in 1914, will not allow herself to blunder into a war lasting for years.... Such is the fate of rich countries.. .Not even England has the money nowadays to fight a world war. What should England fight for? You don't get yourself killed over an ally."
- Adolf Hitler (1939)
"The personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew"
- Adolf Hitler
"The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness."
- Adolf Hitler (1941)
"To be a leader means to be able to move masses"
- Adolf Hitler
"Whatever goal, man has reached is due to his originality plus his brutality"
- Adolf Hitler
"We will not capitulate - no, never! We may be destroyed, but if we are, we shall drag a world with us - a world in flames."
- Adolf Hitler
"Struggle is the father of all things. It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle. If you do not fight, life will never be won"
- Adolf Hitler
"There could be no issue between the Church and the State. The Church, as such, has nothing to do with political affairs. On the other hand, the State has nothing to do with the faith or inner organization of the Church"
- Adolf Hitler
It must be thoroughly understood that the lost land will never be won back by solemn appeals to the God, nor by hopes in any League of Nations, but only by the force of arms.
- Adolf Hitler
"The man who has no sense of history, is like a man who has no ears or eyes"
- Adolf Hitler
"It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge"
- Adolf Hitler
"Man has become great through struggle"
- Adolf Hitler
"The German people are not a warlike nation. It is a soldierly one, which means it does not want a war, but does not fear it. It loves peace but also loves its honor and freedom"
- Adolf Hitler
Always before God and the world, the stronger has the right to carry through what he wills"
- Adolf Hitler
"The majority can never replace the man"
- Adolf Hitler
"What we have to fight for is the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may be enabled to fulfill the mission assigned to it by the creator"
- Adolf Hitler
"I will never allow anyone to divide this people once more into religious camps, each fighting the other"
- Adolf Hitler
"Struggle is the father of all things, virtue lies in blood, leadership is primary and decisive"
- Adolf Hitler
"The world will not help, the people must help themselves. Its own strength is the source of life. That strength the Almighty has given us to use; that in it and through it, we may wage the battle of our life The others in the past years have not had the blessing of the Almighty - of Him who in the last resort, whatever man may do, holds in His hands the final decision. Lord God, let us never hesitate or play the coward"
- Adolf Hitler
"Only force rules. Force is the first law"
- Adolf Hitler
"The only people I have been able to use are those who fought"
- Adolf Hitler
"The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force."
- Adolph Hitler
"The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category."
- Adolph Hitler
"The victor will never be asked if he told the truth."
- Adolph Hitler Quotes
"When an opponent declares, "I will not come over to your side," I calmly say, "Your child belongs to us already... What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community."
- Adolph Hitler Quotes
"Who says I am not under the special protection of God?"
- Adolph Hitler Quotes
Source : Military Quotes.
Sufi Love - By Dr.Javad Nurbakhsh
All human beings during their lives tend to experience love and friendship. Human love can be classified into three basic categories according to its intensity, quality and limitations. The first form of love is the friendship that is based on social conventions where two people behave in accordance with the following principle: "I for myself, you for yourself; we love each other, and we have no expectations of each other." This form of love is that of ordinary people, whose love relationships tend to be of this nature.
The second form of love is based on a more solid foundation and those who live together usually experience this kind of love: "I for you, you for me; we love each other, having mutual expectations of each other." This form of love includes profound love as well as the love found within most families, involving emotional give and take on an equal footing.
The third kind of love transcends all conventions based on mutual expectations and is based on the following principle: "I am for you, you are for whoever you choose; I accept whatever you want without any expectations whatsoever."
The Sufi's devotion to God and to the master of the Path represents this latter form of love. This third kind of love is not based upon any constraints or conditions, and the Sufi who possesses mis kind of love says with contentment and submission to God: "I am satisfied with whatever You want without any expectations, and love You without any thought of reward."
The Sufi's love of God is not based upon any expectation of reward or fear of punishment, for the Sufi does not have any wishes and demands. The Sufi embraces and loves God's wrath as much as His grace, His hardheartedness as much as His fidelity.
Only a few Sufis have managed to annihilate themselves in the Beloved through the path of such love and friendship. It is about these Sufis that Rumi has said:
Everything is the Beloved,
and the lover but a veil;
The Beloved is alive,
while the lover is dead.
Thus, we see that the highest form of human love is 'Sufi Love'. Alas, it is a polo ball that only the most distinguished and perfected human beings are worthy of putting into play.
The second form of love is based on a more solid foundation and those who live together usually experience this kind of love: "I for you, you for me; we love each other, having mutual expectations of each other." This form of love includes profound love as well as the love found within most families, involving emotional give and take on an equal footing.
The third kind of love transcends all conventions based on mutual expectations and is based on the following principle: "I am for you, you are for whoever you choose; I accept whatever you want without any expectations whatsoever."
The Sufi's devotion to God and to the master of the Path represents this latter form of love. This third kind of love is not based upon any constraints or conditions, and the Sufi who possesses mis kind of love says with contentment and submission to God: "I am satisfied with whatever You want without any expectations, and love You without any thought of reward."
The Sufi's love of God is not based upon any expectation of reward or fear of punishment, for the Sufi does not have any wishes and demands. The Sufi embraces and loves God's wrath as much as His grace, His hardheartedness as much as His fidelity.
Only a few Sufis have managed to annihilate themselves in the Beloved through the path of such love and friendship. It is about these Sufis that Rumi has said:
Everything is the Beloved,
and the lover but a veil;
The Beloved is alive,
while the lover is dead.
Thus, we see that the highest form of human love is 'Sufi Love'. Alas, it is a polo ball that only the most distinguished and perfected human beings are worthy of putting into play.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunflower Poems
Sunflower Poems
POEM TO A SUNFLOWER
I see you there in glory shining bright,
Following the sun and its path of light.
Standing tall above all others in the field,
You grow, conquer, and do not yield.
The little birds take great delight
In playing round you, from day to night.
With your petals of yellow and leaves of green
How very easily you are seen.
But there is more to you than first sight,
More than beauty and grander to delight.
Every beautiful aspect that appears,
Gives praise to the Father dear.
He made you a part of creation,
And you praise him in glorious celebration!
The beauty that within you is expressed,
Gives testimony to his greatness.
Sunflower, how I long to be like you!
Glorifying God in all I do.
Following the Son and His path of light,
To worship Him in His glory shining bright.
I can learn from you, my friend,
With every breath, praise to God, I might send.
With all of his creation telling the story,
Might I, with you, proclaim His glory.
~By Katherine R. Lane (April 19, 1995)~
A H ! S U N - F L O W E R
Ah, Sun-flower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done:
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow
Arise from the their graves, and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.
~By WILLIAM BLAKE~
THE WILD SUNFLOWER
At early dawn, like soldiers in their places,
Rank upon rank the golden sunflowers stand;
Gazing toward the east with eager faces,
Waiting, until their god shall touch the land
To life and glory, longingly they wait,
Those voiceless watchers at the morning's gate.
Dawn's portals tremble silently apart;
Far to the east, across the dewy plain,
A glory kindles that in every heart
Finds answering warmth and kindles there again;
And rapture beams in every radiant face
Now softly glowing with supernal grace.
And all day long that silent worship lasts,
And as their god moves grandly down the west,
And every stem a lengthening shadow casts
Toward the east, ah, they love him best,
And watch till every lingering ray is gone,
Then slowly turn to greet another dawn.
~By Albert Bigelow Paine~
GARDEN OF SUNFLOWERS
A garden of Sunflower beckoned to me -
Come join us, my lady, and joyous you'll be!
We're large ones and small ones, some dainty and fair,
And even some delicate to wear in your hair.
We follow the sun, swaying slowly without a care,
We have a new dance that with you we will share.
Gently hold onto our leaves, allow us to lead the way,
To our Sunflower two-step, dancing throughout the day.
I couldn't resist them, so dandy a sight!
So off I did go in my Sunflower flight.
What a glorious time, right up til twilight,
And then I had to bid my Sunflowers good-night.
So happy were we, a long day filled with fun,
Upon leaving I kissed them, each and every one.
So tender the moment, as I turned to leave.
With eyes brimmed with tears, could I truly believe?
OH! It was so true!! I then knew it to be!!!
I had to smile, 'cause they were all winking at me!!!!
~Author Unknown~
Sunflower
Sunflower, sunflower, standing straight and tall,
Sunflower, sunflower, you're the tallest flower of them all!
Sunflower, sunflower, when your seeds fall to the ground,
Sunflower, sunflower, by the squirrels they'll be found!
"Keep your face to the sunshine
and you cannot see the shadow.
It's what sunflowers do."
by Helen Keller
POEM TO A SUNFLOWER
I see you there in glory shining bright,
Following the sun and its path of light.
Standing tall above all others in the field,
You grow, conquer, and do not yield.
The little birds take great delight
In playing round you, from day to night.
With your petals of yellow and leaves of green
How very easily you are seen.
But there is more to you than first sight,
More than beauty and grander to delight.
Every beautiful aspect that appears,
Gives praise to the Father dear.
He made you a part of creation,
And you praise him in glorious celebration!
The beauty that within you is expressed,
Gives testimony to his greatness.
Sunflower, how I long to be like you!
Glorifying God in all I do.
Following the Son and His path of light,
To worship Him in His glory shining bright.
I can learn from you, my friend,
With every breath, praise to God, I might send.
With all of his creation telling the story,
Might I, with you, proclaim His glory.
~By Katherine R. Lane (April 19, 1995)~
A H ! S U N - F L O W E R
Ah, Sun-flower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done:
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow
Arise from the their graves, and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.
~By WILLIAM BLAKE~
THE WILD SUNFLOWER
At early dawn, like soldiers in their places,
Rank upon rank the golden sunflowers stand;
Gazing toward the east with eager faces,
Waiting, until their god shall touch the land
To life and glory, longingly they wait,
Those voiceless watchers at the morning's gate.
Dawn's portals tremble silently apart;
Far to the east, across the dewy plain,
A glory kindles that in every heart
Finds answering warmth and kindles there again;
And rapture beams in every radiant face
Now softly glowing with supernal grace.
And all day long that silent worship lasts,
And as their god moves grandly down the west,
And every stem a lengthening shadow casts
Toward the east, ah, they love him best,
And watch till every lingering ray is gone,
Then slowly turn to greet another dawn.
~By Albert Bigelow Paine~
GARDEN OF SUNFLOWERS
A garden of Sunflower beckoned to me -
Come join us, my lady, and joyous you'll be!
We're large ones and small ones, some dainty and fair,
And even some delicate to wear in your hair.
We follow the sun, swaying slowly without a care,
We have a new dance that with you we will share.
Gently hold onto our leaves, allow us to lead the way,
To our Sunflower two-step, dancing throughout the day.
I couldn't resist them, so dandy a sight!
So off I did go in my Sunflower flight.
What a glorious time, right up til twilight,
And then I had to bid my Sunflowers good-night.
So happy were we, a long day filled with fun,
Upon leaving I kissed them, each and every one.
So tender the moment, as I turned to leave.
With eyes brimmed with tears, could I truly believe?
OH! It was so true!! I then knew it to be!!!
I had to smile, 'cause they were all winking at me!!!!
~Author Unknown~
Sunflower
Sunflower, sunflower, standing straight and tall,
Sunflower, sunflower, you're the tallest flower of them all!
Sunflower, sunflower, when your seeds fall to the ground,
Sunflower, sunflower, by the squirrels they'll be found!
"Keep your face to the sunshine
and you cannot see the shadow.
It's what sunflowers do."
by Helen Keller
Love Marriage with a difference
It is a real story appeared in the Times of India, Delhi Edition some time some time in early 1990
....relevant clipping is still preserved with me.....
CHANDIGARH - A pretty young woman came downs from the hills to see the man she has heard so much about.
After a friendship of three years they were married last month.
A common girl-meets-boy story, except for the fact that the boy, 17 years her senior, is crippled and bed ridden for 19 years, whose life could ebb out any moment leaving their union unconsummated.
Why would anyone, least of all a petite 22-years-old journalist, marry such a man, if not for sympathy ?
"It was simply love", insists Ritika Joseph of her April 25 marriage with Vineet Khanna, who has come to acquire the reputation of a leading social worker always ready to help people in distress despite his own handicap.
Known as "Baba Amte" of Chandigarh, Khanna lost use of both his lower limbs after he was put in plaster and fed strong drugs following a bus accident on an educational trip in his college final year.
But, Khanna did not gave up. Lying on a high stretcher-like bed that he can move with a handle, he paints, writes poetry and runs a project to train youth from backward classes in various trades.
Pen friends turning life partners is not a new, though for Ritika and Vineet this process took nearly four years and the proposed minutes before being wheeled into the operation theater at the All - India Institute of Medical Sciences.
As a collegian in Shimla, Ritika sent a poem of hers, in response to an advertisement, to Vineet's magazine in 1988 when a special poetry issue was being planned.
It was the effort of a lonely, shy and introvert girl, Ritika says adding that Vineet reply touched hear and they began corresponding regularly.
"He wrote every- thing about his condition though not even once did he sound helpless. In fact, with each letter his character grew in stature in my eyes as all his letter would counsel me to be happy and make others also happy", she says.
When she joined the degree course in journalism at the Punjab Univdrfsity here. she overcame her initial hesitation and decided to meet the person who had made such a positive influence on her life.
His constant battle with life without even a frown made me realize that though an ordinary person,here was a man who had extraordinary grit and this brought me closer to him, she says.
A serious kidney malfunctin resulted in Vineet being hospitalized with doctors expressing little hope on his chances of survival.
"It was this time that I decided to stay with him even though my parents and friends opposed it", she says.
For Vineet marriage means a union of two hearts and is a beautiful relationship.
Even a little movement is painful as years of lying on bed has made his bones so brittle "that they may turn to powder", he said adding that in spite of all this my desire to help remains undiminished.
The regular visitor's stream to his house include top bureaucrats,journalists and all those whom he has helped in their hour of distress. He has so far helped over 1000 youth who were trained under his "youth technical training society" .
With a grant from Delhi-based Indo-German social service society, Vineet has trained some youth who would otherwise have become militants like Gurvinder Singh, who now has a job as a driver in a fertilizer company.
His latest project titled "pustak", which provides literacy and numeracy programme for the poor slum children, is also a success. The project recently received grants from the World Literacy Fund of Canada.
This hectic activity helps him forget everything and when asked about his suffering, the 38-year-old poet just shrugs and says "pain is my best friend. It never leaves me".
PTI
Note: A brief of based on above was posted by me on Face Book on 20th March, 2011, under the title "A True Love Story" which attracted appropriate comments. In response to the following comments of my most respected friend on fb, Mr.Sampa Das, I traced the old clipping from my papers and reproduced the entire story as above:
It resembles the story of "Gujarish" where quadriplegic Ethan (Hrithik) was accompanied by Sofia (Aisharya) like a shadow for 12 years and shared a tacit silent love relationship.
Badrinath Vasandi: sampa ji, i have not seen Gujarish but it is a real story..decades have passed, but the clipping from the news paper is still with me....
Sampa Das :Gujarish is inspired by a Spanish film The Sea Inside (2004) based on the real life story of a sailor Ramdon Sampredo.
....relevant clipping is still preserved with me.....
CHANDIGARH - A pretty young woman came downs from the hills to see the man she has heard so much about.
After a friendship of three years they were married last month.
A common girl-meets-boy story, except for the fact that the boy, 17 years her senior, is crippled and bed ridden for 19 years, whose life could ebb out any moment leaving their union unconsummated.
Why would anyone, least of all a petite 22-years-old journalist, marry such a man, if not for sympathy ?
"It was simply love", insists Ritika Joseph of her April 25 marriage with Vineet Khanna, who has come to acquire the reputation of a leading social worker always ready to help people in distress despite his own handicap.
Known as "Baba Amte" of Chandigarh, Khanna lost use of both his lower limbs after he was put in plaster and fed strong drugs following a bus accident on an educational trip in his college final year.
But, Khanna did not gave up. Lying on a high stretcher-like bed that he can move with a handle, he paints, writes poetry and runs a project to train youth from backward classes in various trades.
Pen friends turning life partners is not a new, though for Ritika and Vineet this process took nearly four years and the proposed minutes before being wheeled into the operation theater at the All - India Institute of Medical Sciences.
As a collegian in Shimla, Ritika sent a poem of hers, in response to an advertisement, to Vineet's magazine in 1988 when a special poetry issue was being planned.
It was the effort of a lonely, shy and introvert girl, Ritika says adding that Vineet reply touched hear and they began corresponding regularly.
"He wrote every- thing about his condition though not even once did he sound helpless. In fact, with each letter his character grew in stature in my eyes as all his letter would counsel me to be happy and make others also happy", she says.
When she joined the degree course in journalism at the Punjab Univdrfsity here. she overcame her initial hesitation and decided to meet the person who had made such a positive influence on her life.
His constant battle with life without even a frown made me realize that though an ordinary person,here was a man who had extraordinary grit and this brought me closer to him, she says.
A serious kidney malfunctin resulted in Vineet being hospitalized with doctors expressing little hope on his chances of survival.
"It was this time that I decided to stay with him even though my parents and friends opposed it", she says.
For Vineet marriage means a union of two hearts and is a beautiful relationship.
Even a little movement is painful as years of lying on bed has made his bones so brittle "that they may turn to powder", he said adding that in spite of all this my desire to help remains undiminished.
The regular visitor's stream to his house include top bureaucrats,journalists and all those whom he has helped in their hour of distress. He has so far helped over 1000 youth who were trained under his "youth technical training society" .
With a grant from Delhi-based Indo-German social service society, Vineet has trained some youth who would otherwise have become militants like Gurvinder Singh, who now has a job as a driver in a fertilizer company.
His latest project titled "pustak", which provides literacy and numeracy programme for the poor slum children, is also a success. The project recently received grants from the World Literacy Fund of Canada.
This hectic activity helps him forget everything and when asked about his suffering, the 38-year-old poet just shrugs and says "pain is my best friend. It never leaves me".
PTI
Note: A brief of based on above was posted by me on Face Book on 20th March, 2011, under the title "A True Love Story" which attracted appropriate comments. In response to the following comments of my most respected friend on fb, Mr.Sampa Das, I traced the old clipping from my papers and reproduced the entire story as above:
It resembles the story of "Gujarish" where quadriplegic Ethan (Hrithik) was accompanied by Sofia (Aisharya) like a shadow for 12 years and shared a tacit silent love relationship.
Badrinath Vasandi: sampa ji, i have not seen Gujarish but it is a real story..decades have passed, but the clipping from the news paper is still with me....
Sampa Das :Gujarish is inspired by a Spanish film The Sea Inside (2004) based on the real life story of a sailor Ramdon Sampredo.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Sufi Poetry
Sufi Poetry
updated: 13-Aug-2010
A few poems from each of the following authors are included here as examples of the wondrous depth and variety of Sufi poetry:
Attar
Hafiz
Jami
Rumi
Saadi
Sanai
Yunus Emry
Shabistari
Ansari
Rabi'a
Abil Kheir
Sultan Bahu
Ibn 'Arabi
Baba Kuhi
Mansur al-Hallaj
Amir Khusrau
Moinuddin Hasan Chishti
Hazret-i Uftade
Also see the Sufi poetry of wahiduddin.
Attar of Nishapur (1145 - 1221 ce) saint and mystic, one of the most voluminous authors in Persian literature on religious topics. His best-known work, Conference of the Birds, is an elaborate allegory of the soul's quest for reunion with God
So long as we do not die to ourselves,
and so long as we identify with someone or something,
we shall never be free.
The spiritual way is not for those wrapped up in exterior life.
Farid ud Din Attar
~~
Strive to discover the mystery before life is taken from you.
If while living you fail to find yourself, to know yourself,
how will you be able to understand
the secret of your existence when you die?
Farid ud Din Attar
~~
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each a mystic silence Love demands.
What do all seek so earnestly? 'Tis Love.
What do they whisper to each other? Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts.
In Love no longer 'thou' and 'I' exist,
For Self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul,
Behold the Friend; Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds,
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.
Farid ud Din Attar - translation Margaret Smith -The Jawhar Al-Dhat
~~
In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
But those without will remain locked in the coffin.
So, my friends, before the lid of this coffin is taken off,
Do all you can to become a bird of the Way to God;
Do all you can to develop your wings and your feathers."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
The whole world is a marketplace for Love,
For naught that is, from Love remains remote.
The Eternal Wisdom made all things in Love.
On Love they all depend, to Love all turn.
The earth, the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars
The center of their orbit find in Love.
By Love are all bewildered, stupefied,
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each, Love demands a mystic silence.
What do all seek so earnestly? "Tis Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts,
In Love no longer "Thou" and "I" exist,
For self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul
Behold the Friend, Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds
Will find that the secret of them both is Love.
Farid ud Din Attar, in Essential Sufism, James Fadiman and Robert Frager
~~
Four Things to Know
Hatim al-Asamm said, "I have chosen four things to know
and discarded all other things of knowledge.
"The first is this: I know that my daily bread is apportioned
to me and will neither be increased or decreased, so I have stopped
trying to add to it.
"Secondly, I know I owe to God a debt which no one else can
pay for me, so I am busy about paying it.
"Thirdly, I know that there is someone pursuing me ---
Death --- whom I cannot escape from, so I have prepared myself
to meet him.
"Fourth, I know that God is observing me, so I am ashamed
to do what I should not."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
But those without will remain locked in the coffin.
So, my friends, before the lid of this coffin is taken off,
Do all you can to become a bird of the Way to God;
Do all you can to develop your wings and your feathers."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Hafiz of Shiraz (1230-91 ce) the greatest lyric poet of Persia, who took the poetic form of the ghazal to unparalleled heights of subtlety and beauty.
I speak frankly and that makes me happy:
I am the slave of love, I am free of both worlds.
I am a bird from heaven's garden. How do I describe that separation,
my fall into this snare of accidents?
I was an angel and highest paradise was my place.
Adam brought me to this monastery in the city of ruin.
The hours' caress, the pool and shade trees of paradise
were forgotten in the breeze from your alleyway.
There is nothing on the tablet of my heart but my love's tall alif.
What can I do? My master taught me no other letter.
No astrologer knew the constellations of my fate.
O lord, when I was born of mother earth which stars were rising?
Ever since I became a slave at the door of love's tavern
sorrows come to me each moment with congratulations.
The pupil of my eye drains the blood from my heart.
I deserve it. Why did I give my heart to the darling of others?
Wipe the tears from Hafiz's face with soft curls
or else this endless torrent will uproot me.
Hafiz - Ghazal 44 - "The Green Sea of Heaven" - Elizabeth T. Gray Jr
~~
The sun
Won a beauty contest and became a jewel
Set upon God’s right hand.
The earth agreed to be a toe ring on the
Beloved’s foot
And has never regretted its decision.
The mountains got tired
Of sitting amongst a sleeping audience
And are now stretching their arms
Toward the Roof.
The clouds gave my soul an idea
So I pawned my gills
And rose like a winged diamond
Ever trying to be near
More love, more love
Like you.
The Mountain got tired of sitting
Amongst a snoring crowd inside of me
And rose like a rip sun
Into my eye.
My soul gave my heart a brilliant idea
So Hafiz is rising like a
Winged diamond.
Hafiz - “The Gift” – translation by Daniel Ladinsky
~~
We are the guardians of His Beauty
We are the protectors
Of the Sun.
There is only one reason
We have followed God into this world:
To encourage laughter, freedom, dance
And love.
Let a noble cry inside of you speak to me
Saying,
"Hafiz,
Don't just sit there on the moon tonight
Doing nothing -
Help unfurl my heart into the Friend's Mind,
Help, Old Man, to heal my wounded wings!"
We are the companions of His Beauty
We are the guardians
Of Truth.
Every man, plant and creature in Existence,
Every woman, child, vein and note
Is a servant of our Beloved -
A harbinger of joy,
The harbinger of
Light.
Hafiz - "The Subject Tonight is Love" - Daniel Ladinsky
~~
Mortal never won to view thee,
Yet a thousand lovers woo thee;
Not a nightingale but knows
In the rose-bud sleeps the rose.
Love is where the glory falls
Of thy face: on convent walls
Or on tavern floors the same
Unextinguishable flame.
Where the turban'd anchorite
Chanteth Allah day and night,
Church-bells ring the call to prayer,
And the Cross of Christ is there.
Hafiz - "Persian Poems" - R.A. Nicholson
~~
Come,
let's scatter roses and pour wine in the glass;
we'll shatter heaven's roof and lay a new foundation.
If sorrow raises armies to shed the blood of lovers,
I'll join with the wine bearer so we can overthrow them.
With a sweet string at hand, play a sweet song, my friend,
so we can clap and sing a song and lose our heads in dancing.
Hafiz (Ghani-Qazvini, no 374) ' the Shambhala Guide to Sufism' Carl.W Ernst, Ph.D.
Jami (1414 - 1492 ce) (Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Jami) commonly called the last great classical poet of Persia, saint and mystic, composed numerous lyrics and idylls, as well as many works in prose. His Salaman and Absal is an allegory of profane and sacred love. Some of his other works include Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wa -Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa'ih, al-Durrah al-Fakhirah.
~~
Who is man?
The reflection of the Eternal Light.
What is the world?
A wave on the Everlasting Sea.
How could the reflection be cut off from the Light?
How could the wave be separate from the Sea?
Know that this reflection and this wave are that very Light and Sea.
Jami, Diwan, tr by W.C. Chittick
~~
Hidden behind the veil of mystery, Beauty is eternally free from the slightest stain of imperfection. From the atoms of the world, He created a multitude of mirrors; into each one of them He cast the image of His Face; to the awakened eye, anything that appears beautiful is only a reflection of that Face.
Now that you have seen the reflection, hurry to its Source; in that primordial Light the reflection vanishes completely. Do not linger far from that primal Source; when the reflection fades, you will be lost in darkness. The reflection is as transient as the smile of a rose; if you want permanence, turn towards the Source; if you want fidelity, look to the Mine of faithfulness. Why tear your soul apart over something here one moment and gone the next?
Jami, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
Whether your destiny is glory or disgrace,
Purify yourself of hatred and love of self.
Polish your mirror; and that sublime Beauty
From the regions of mystery
Will flame out in your heart
As it did for the saints and prophets.
Then, with your heart on fire with that Splendor,
The secret of the Beloved will no longer be hidden.
Jami, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273 ce) saint and mystic, inspiration for the Mevlevi Order of the whirling dervishes, highly revered for the great Mathnawi which is a grand tribute to the depth of spiritual life.
The Jesus of your spirit is inside you now.
Ask that one for help, but don't ask for body-things...
Don't ask Moses for provisions
that you can get from Pharaoh.
Don't worry so much about livelihood.
Your livelihood will turn out as it should.
Be constantly occupied instead
with listening to God.
Rumi, Mathnawi II:450-454
~~
Listen for the stream
that tells you one thing.
Die on this bank.
Begin in me
the way of rivers with the sea.
Rumi - Coleman Barks - from "Say I Am You"
~~
You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.
What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
So- I've brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.
- Jalaluddin Rumi, Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks, pg141
~~
Longing is the core of mystery.
Longing itself brings the cure.
The only rule is, Suffer the pain.
Your desire must be disciplined,
and what you want to happen
in time, sacrificed.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
~~
Oh! Supreme Lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.
By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself
in the mountains and the desert.
These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.
I'm sick of mortal kings.
I long to see your light.
With lamps in hand
the sheikhs and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.
You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart.
Rumi - 'The Love Poems of Rumi' - Deepak Chopra & Fereydoun Kia
~~
Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You're covered with a thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quiteness is the surest sign
that you've died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon
comes out now.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
~~
The Morning Wind Spreads
The morning wind spreads its fresh smell.
We must get up and take that in,
that wind that lets us live.
Breathe before it's gone.
Rumi - 'The Essential Rumi' - Coleman Barks
~~
Everyone is overridden by thoughts;
that's why they have so much heartache and sorrow.
At times I give myself up to thought purposefully;
but when I choose,
I spring up from those under its sway.
I am like a high-flying bird,
and thought is a gnat:
how should a gnat overpower me?
Rumi - Mathnawi II, 3559-3561 - 'Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance' - Camille and Kabir Helminski
~~
I wonder
from these thousand of "me's",
which one am I?
Listen to my cry, do not drown my voice
I am completely filled with the thought of you.
Don't lay broken glass on my path
I will crush it into dust.
I am nothing, just a mirror in the palm of your hand,
reflecting your kindness, your sadness, your anger.
If you were a blade of grass or a tiny flower
I will pitch my tent in your shadow.
Only your presence revives my withered heart.
You are the candle that lights the whole world
and I am an empty vessel for your light.
Rumi - "Hidden Music" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
~~
Happy the moment when we are seated in the Palace, thou and I,
With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I.
The colours of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality
At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I.
The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us;
We shall show them the Moon itself, thou and I.
Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy,
Joyful and secure from foolish babble, thou and I.
All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy
In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I.
This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook,
Are at this moment both in ‘Iraq and Khorasan, thou and I.
Jelaluddin Rumi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Awakened by your love,
I flicker like a candle's light
tryin to hold on in the dark.
Yet, you spare me no blows
and keep asking,
"Why do you complain?"
Rumi - "Whispers of the Beloved" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
~~
My heart tells me it is distressed with Him,
but I can only laugh at such pretended injuries.
Be fair, You who are the Glory of the just.
You, Soul, free of "we" and "I,"
subtle spirit within each man and woman.
When a man and a woman become one,
that "one" is You.
And when that one is obliterated, there You are.
Where is this "we" and this "I"?
By the side of the Beloved.
You made this "we" and this "I"
in order that you might play
this game of courtship with Yourself,
that all "you's" and "I's" might become one soul
and finally drown in the Beloved.
All this is true. Come!
You who are the Creative Word: Be
You, so far beyond description.
Is it possible for the bodily eyes to see You?
Can thought comprehend Your laughter or grief?
Tell me now, can it possibly see You at all?
Such a heart has only borrowed things to live with.
The garden of love is green without limit
and yields many fruits other than sorrow or joy.
Love is beyond either condition:
without spring, without autumn, it is always fresh.
Rumi - Mathnawi I, 1779-1794 - The Rumi Collection - Kabir Helminski
Saadi of Shiraz (1215 -1292 ce), a great poet of Persia, author of the Gulistan (Rose-Garden) and the Bostan (Orchard), who also wrote many odes and lyrics.
O bird of the morning, learn love from the moth
Because it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice.
These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him,
Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned.
Sheikh Muslih-uddin Sa'di Shirazi - The Gulistan of Sa'di
~~
How could I ever thank my Friend?
No thanks could ever begin to be worthy.
Every hair of my body is a gift from Him;
How could I thank Him for each hair?
Praise that lavish Lord forever
Who from nothing conjures all living beings!
Who could ever describe His goodness?
His infinite glory lays all praise waste.
Look, He has graced you a robe of splendor
>From childhood's first cries to old age!
He made you pure in His own image; stay pure.
It is horrible to die blackened by sin.
Never let dust settle on your mirror's shining;
Let it once grow dull and it will never polish.
When you work in the world to earn your living
Do not, for one moment, rely on your own strength.
Self-worshiper, don't you understand anything yet?
It is God alone that gives your arms their power.
If, by your striving, you achieve something good,
Don't claim the credit all for yourself;
It is fate that decides who wins and who loses
And all success streams only from the grace of God.
In this world you never stand by your own strength;
It is the Invisible that sustains you every moment.
Saadi, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Sanai (1118 -1152 ce) (Abû'l-Majd Majdûd b. Adam Sanâ'î) is revered as one of the first great mystical poets of Persia. He produced many lyrical poems and a religious epic, The Walled Garden of Truth.
Don't speak of your suffering -- He is speaking.
Don't look for Him everywhere -- He's looking for you.
An ant's foot touches a leaf, He senses it;
A pebble shifts in a streambed, He knows it.
If there's a worm hidden deep in a rock,
He'll know its body, tinier than an atom,
The sound of its praise, its secret ecstasy --
All this He knows by divine knowing.
He has given the tiniest worm its food;
He has opened to you the Way of the Holy Ones.
Sanai
~~
'The Puzzle'
Someone who keeps aloof from suffering
is not a lover. I choose your love
above all else. As for wealth
if that comes, or goes, so be it.
Wealth and love inhabit separate worlds.
But as long as you live here inside me,
I cannot say that I am suffering.
Sanai, translation by Coleman Barks - 'Persian Poems'
~~
'The Way of the Holy Ones'
Don't speak of your suffering -- He is speaking.
Don't look for Him everywhere -- He's looking for you.
An ant's foot touches a leaf, He senses it;
A pebble shifts in a streambed, He knows it.
If there's a worm hidden deep in a rock,
He'll know its body, tinier than an atom,
The sound of its praise, its secret ecstasy --
All this He knows by divine knowing.
He has given the tiniest worm its food;
He has opened to you the Way of the Holy Ones.
Sanai, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
Those unable to grieve,
or to speak of their love,
or to be grateful, those
who can't remember God
as the source of everything,
might be described as a vacant wind,
or a cold anvil, or a group
of frightened old people.
Say the Name. Moisten your tongue
with praise, and be the spring ground,
waking. Let your mouth be given
its gold-yellow stamen like the wild rose's.
As you fill with wisdom,
and your heart with love,
there's no more thirst.
There's only unselfed patience
waiting on the doorsill, a silence
which doesn't listen to advice
from people passing in the street.
Sanai - "Persian Poems" - Coleman Barks
Yunus Emre - (1241 - 1321 ce). Yunus' poetry made a great impact on Turkish culture.
The drink sent down from Truth,
we drank it, glory be to God.
And we sailed over the Ocean of Power,
glory be to God.
Beyond those hills and oak woods,
beyond those vineyards and gardens,
we passed in health and joy, glory be to God.
We were dry, but we moistened.
We grew wings and became birds,
we married one another and flew,
glory be to God.
To whatever lands we came,
in whatever hearts, in all humanity,
we planted the meanings Taptuk taught us,
glory be to God.
Come here, let's make peace,
let's not be strangers to one another.
We have saddled the horse
and trained it, glory be to God.
We became a trickle that grew into a river.
We took flight and drove into the sea,
and then we overflowed, glory be to God.
We became servants at Taptuk's door.
Poor Yunus, raw and tasteless,
finally got cooked, glory be to God.
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
~~
Ask those who know,
what's this soul within the flesh?
Reality's own power.
What blood fills these veins?
Thought is an errand boy,
fear a mine of worries.
These sighs are love's clothing.
Who is the Khan on the throne?
Give thanks for His unity.
He created when nothing existed.
And since we are actually nothing,
what are all of Solomon's riches?
Ask Yunus and Taptuk
what the world means to them..
The world won't last.
What are You? What am I?
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
~~
We entered the house of realization,
we witnessed the body.
The whirling skies, the many-layered earth,
the seventy-thousand veils,
we found in the body.
The night and the day, the planets,
the words inscribed on the Holy Tablets,
the hill that Moses climbed, the Temple,
and Israfil's trumpet, we observed in the body.
Torah, Psalms, Gospel, Quran-
what these books have to say,
we found in the body.
Everybody says these words of Yunus
are true. Truth is wherever you want it.
We found it all within the body.
Yunus Emre, yranslated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
~~
I am before, I am after
The soul for all souls all the way.
I'm the one with a helping hand
Ready for those gone wild, astray.
I made the ground flat where it lies,
On it I had those mountains rise,
I designed the vault of the shies,
For I hold all things in my sway.
To countless lovers I have been
A guide for faith and religion.
I am sacrilege in men's hearts
Also the true faith and Islam's way.
I make men love peace and unite;
Putting down the black words on white,
I wrote the four holy books right
I'm the Koran for those who pray.
It's not Yunus who says all this:
It speaks its own realities:
To doubt this would be blasphemous:
"I'm before-I'm after," I say
Yunus Emre
~~
Your love has wrested me away from me,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Day and night I burn, gripped by agony,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
I find no great joy in being alive,
If I cease to exist, I would not grieve,
The only solace I have is your love,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Lovers yearn for you, but your love slays them,
At the bottom of the sea it lays them,
It has God's images-it displays them;
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Let me drink the wine of love sip by sip,
Like Mecnun, live in the hills in hardship,
Day and night, care for you holds me in its grip,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Even if, at the end, they make me die
And scatter my ashes up to the shy,
My pit would break into this outcry:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
"Yunus Emre the mystic" is my name,
Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,
What I desire in both worlds in the same:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Yunus Emre
Sa'd al-din Mahmud Shabistari(1288 - 1340 ce) is one of the most celebrated authors of Persian Sufism. Because of his gift for expressing the Sufi mystical vision with extraordinary clarity, his Gulshan-i raz or Secret Rose Garden rapidly became one of the most popular works of Persian Sufi poetry.
Go sweep out the chamber of your heart.
Make it ready to be the dwelling place of the Beloved.
When you depart out, He will enter it.
In you, void of yourself, will He display His beauties.
Mahmud Shabistari - 'Rose Garden of Mystery'
~~
'One Light'
What are "I" and "You"?
Just lattices
In the niches of a lamp
Through which the One Light radiates.
"I" and "You" are the veil
Between heaven and earth;
Lift this veil and you will see
How all sects and religions are one.
Lift this veil and you will ask---
When "I" and "You" do not exist
What is mosque?
What is synagogue?
What is fire temple?
Mahmud Shabistari, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Sheikh Ansari Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari (1006-1088 ce) He was called Sheikh al-Islam and he was also given the title Zayn al- 'Ulama (Ornament of the Scholars) and Nasir al-Sunnah (Supporter of the Prophetic Tradition). Later on in Persian texts he was called Pir-e Herat (the Sheikh of Herat).
Some of Ansari works include Kashf al-Asrar "Unveiling of the Secrets" (Commentary of the Qur'an), Tabaquat al-Sufiyya (The Generations of the Sufis), "Munajat" (Intimate Invocations) which is incorporated into the Kashf al-Asrar and in the Tabaqat.
'The Friend Beside Me'
O God
You know why I am happy:
It is because I seek Your company,
not through my own (efforts).
O God,
You decided and I did not.
I found the Friend beside me
when I woke up!
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 407 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'Where Are You?'
O God,
You are the aim of the call of the sincere,
You enlighten the souls of the friends, (and)
You are the comfort of the hearts of the travellers---
because You are present in the very soul.
I call out, from emotion:
"Where are you?"
You are the life of the soul,
You are the rule (ayin) of speech, (and)
You are Your own interpreter (tarjaman).
For the sake of Your obligation to Yourself,
do not enter us into the shade of deception, (but)
make us reach union (wisal) with You.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 598 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'Pursuit of the Friend'
The heart left,
and the Friend is (also) gone.
I don't know whether I should go after the Friend
or after the heart!
A voice spoke to me:
"Go in pursuit of the Friend,
because the lover needs a heart
in order to find union with the Friend.
If there was no Friend,
what would (the lover) do with (his) heart?"
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 1, p. 628 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'The Beauty of Oneness'
Any eye filled with the vision of this world
cannot see the attributes of the Hereafter,
Any eye filled with the attributes of the Hereafter
would be deprived of the Beauty (Jamal) of (Divine) Oneness.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 7, p. 511 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'In Each Breath'
O you who have departed from your own self,
and who have not yet reached the Friend:
do not be sad, (for)
He is accompanying you in each of (your) breaths.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 7, p. 268 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (717 - 801 ce) was born in Basra. As a child, after the death of her parents, Rabi'a was sold into slavery. After years of service to her slavemaster, Rabi'a began to serve only the Beloved with her actions and thoughts. Since she was no longer useful to the slaveowner, Rabi'a was then set free to continue her devotion to the Beloved.
Rabi'a taught that the true lover, whose consciousness is unwaveringly centered on the Beloved, is unattached to conditions such as pleasure or pain, not from sensory dullness but from ceaseless rapture in Divine Love.
Rabia was once asked, "How did you attain that which you have attained?"
"By often praying, 'I take refuge in You, O God, from everything that distracts me from You, and from every obstacle that prevents me from reaching You.'"
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows;
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey?
Rabia al-Adawiyya
~~
I have two ways of loving You:
A selfish one
And another way that is worthy of You.
In my selfish love, I remember You and You alone.
In that other love, You lift the veil
And let me feast my eyes on Your Living Face.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya. Doorkeeper of the heart:versions of Rabia. Trans. Charles Upton
~~
The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart.
This is a disease no doctor can cure.
Only Union with the Friend can cure it.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
I have made You the Companion of my heart.
But my body is available to those who desire its company,
And my body is friendly toward its guest,
But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
Brothers, my peace is in my aloneness.
My Beloved is alone with me there, always.
I have found nothing in all the worlds
That could match His love,
This love that harrows the sands of my desert.
If I come to die of desire
And my Beloved is still not satisfied,
I would live in eternal despair.
To abandon all that He has fashioned
And hold in the palm of my hand
Certain proof that He loves me---
That is the name and the goal of my search.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
O Lord,
If tomorrow on Judgment Day
You send me to Hell,
I will tell such a secret
That Hell will race from me
Until it is a thousand years away.
O Lord,
Whatever share of this world
You could give to me,
Give it to Your enemies;
Whatever share of the next world
You want to give to me,
Give it to Your friends.
You are enough for me.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.
But if I worship You for Yourself alone
Then grace me forever the splendor of Your Face.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir (Abu Sa'id ibn Ab'il Khair ) (967 - 1049 ce) referring to himself as "nobody, son of nobody" he expressed the reality that his life had disappeared in the heart of God. This revered Persian Sufi mystic from Khorasan preceded the great poet Jalaluddin Rumi by over two hundred years on the same path of annihilation in Love.
Until you become an unbeliever in your own self,
you cannot become a believer in God.
Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir - 'Nobody, Son of Nobody' - Vraje Abramian
~~
If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved,
love everyone.
Whether in their presence or absence,
see only their good.
If you want to be as clear and refreshing as
the breath of the morning breeze,
like the sun, have nothing but warmth and light
for everyone.
Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir - 'Nobody, Son of Nobody' - Vraje Abramian
~~
Beloved, show me the way out of this prison.
Make me needless of both worlds.
Pray, erase from mind all
that is not You.
Have mercy Beloved,
though I am nothing but forgetfulness,
You are the essence of forgiveness.
Make me needless of all but You.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Piousness and the path of love
are two different roads.
Love is the fire that burns both belief
and non-belief.
Those who practice Love have neither
religion nor caste.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Be humble.
Only fools take pride in their station here, trapped in
a cage of dust, moisture, heat and air.
No need to complain of calamities,
this illusion of a life lasts but a moment.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Suppose you can recite a thousand holy
verses from memory.
What are you going to do
with your ego self, the true
mark of the heretic?
Every time your head touches
the ground in prayers, remember,
this was to teach you to
put down that load of ego
which bars you from entering
the chamber of the Beloved.
To your mind feed understanding,
to your heart, tolerance and compassion.
The simpler your life, the more meaningful.
The less you desire of the world,
the more room you will have in it
to fill with the Beloved.
The best use of your tongue
is to repeat the Beloved's Name in devotion.
The best prayers are those in
the solitude of the night.
The shortest way to the Friend
is through selfless service and
generosity to His creatures.
Those with no sense of honor and dignity are best avoided.
Those who change colors constantly
are best forgotten.
The best way to be with those
bereft of the Beloved's qualities,
is to forget them in the
joy of silence in one's corner of solitude.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody"
~~
Drink from this heart now,
for all this loving it contains.
When you look for it again,
it will be dancing in the wind.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart,
never give up, never losing hope.
The Beloved says, "The broken ones are My darlings."
Crush your heart, be broken.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
If you do not give up the crowds
you won't find your way to Oneness.
If you do not drop your self
you won't find your true worth.
If you do not offer all you
have to the Beloved,
you will live this life free of that
pain which makes it worth living.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
Sheikh Sultan Bahu (1628 - 1691 ce) belonged to the Qadiri Order of Sufis and is known by the title of Sultan-ul-Arifin (king of the Gnostics). Born in the Soon Valley, he wrote in both Persian and Punjabi, and is regarded as one of the most prominent Sufi poets of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.
Those who have not realized God will wander,
homeless in this world, destitute in the next.
But watch the lovers dance with ecstasy,
as they merge into the oneness of God [Allah].
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
The river of oneness has surged,
quenching the thirst of the deserts and wastelands.
If you don't nurture God's love in your heart,
you will be dry and parched like those deserts.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
The Lord is an ocean of oneness
in which lovers swim as they please, free of care.
In their own turn, they appear in the world
to dive deep into that ocean, to gather pearls.
Among the pearls is a gem --
unique in value, unmatched in lustre --
that shines like the moon.
We are all in the employ of the Lord, O Bahu;
let us pay homage to him through our prayers.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
Repeat the Name of God,
and always contemplate on Him
while doing your repetition --
keener than a sword is such remembrance [Zikhr, Simran].
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
Repeat the Name of God, O Bahu,
and free yourself from the worries of life.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
Those who enshrine the Lord in their hearts, O Bahu,
have both the worlds at their command.
Lovers remain completely intoxicated
in the ecstasy of their love for the Beloved.
They offer their souls to the Beloved
while still living
and thus immortalize themselves
in this life and the hereafter.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
Muhammed Ibn 'Ali Ibn 'Arabi (1165 - 1240 ce) Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master), he was born into the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain and traveled widely throughout the Islamic countries.
O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Kaa'ba,
and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take,
that is my religion and my faith.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
All that is left
to us by tradition
is mere words.
It is up to us
to find out what they mean.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Were it not for
the excess of your talking
and the turmoil in your hearts,
you would see what I see
and hear what I hear!
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
When my Beloved appears, With what eye do I see Him? With His eye, not with mine, For none sees Him except Himself.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
Baba Kuhi of Shiriz, a Persian dervish-poet who died around 1050 ce: (see also a brief essay Eyes of the Heart)
In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.
In the valley and on the mountain--only God I saw.
Him I have seen beside me oft in tribulation;
In favour and in fortune--only God I saw.
In prayer and fasting, in praise and contemplation,
In the religion of the Prophet--only God I saw.
Neither soul nor body, accident nor substance,
Qualities nor causes--only God I saw.
I oped mine eyes and by the light of His face around me
In all the eye discovered--only God I saw.
Like a candle I was melting in His fire:
Amidst the flames outflashing--only God I saw.
Myself with mine own eyes I saw most clearly,
But when I looked with God's eyes--only God I saw.
I passed away into nothingness, I vanished,
And lo, I was the All-living--only God I saw.
Baba Kuhi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj known as al-Hallaj (the wool-carder), he was put to death in Baghdad for having uttered ana 'l haqq (I am the Truth):
I am He whom I love,
and He whom I love is I:
We are two spirits
dwelling in one body.
If thou seest me,
thou seest Him,
And if thou seest Him,
thou seest us both.
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Thy Spirit is mingled in my spirit
even as wine is mingled with pure water.
When anything touches Thee,
it touches me.
Lo, in every case Thou art I!"
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Amir Khusrau (1253 - 1325 ce ) Indian Sufi mystic, musician, poet and scholar. He was a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, and is one of the most beloved poets of the Chishti Sufi lineage.
Love came and spread like blood in my veins and the skin of me,
It filled me with the Friend and completely emptied me.
The Friend has taken over all parts of my existence,
Only my name remains, as all is He.
~~
Moinuddin Chishti (1141 - 1230 ce) born in Khorasan. A widely beloved Persian spiritual leader who carried the Chishti lineage to India.
The noise of the lover is only up to
the time when he has not seen his Beloved.
Once he sees the Beloved, he becomes calm and quiet,
just as the rivers are boisterous before they join the ocean,
but when they do so, there are becalmed forever.
~~
The one who knows becomes perfect only when
all else is removed from in-between him and the Friend.
Either he remains or the Friend.
~~
Hazret-i Uftade (1490-1580 ce) Mehmed Muhyiddin Üftade was a widely revered Turkish saint, and founder of the Jelveti order of Sufis who emphasized the return into the midst of society after learning to overcome the lower-self.
If you desire the Beloved, my heart,
Do not cease to pour out lamentations.
Observing His existence, reach annihilation!
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Let tears of blood pour from your eyes
May they emerge hot from the furnace
Say not that he is one of you or one of us
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Let love come that you may have a friend
Your distresses are a torrent
Sweeping you along the way to the Friend
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Take yourself up to the heavens
Meet the angels
And fulfill your desires
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Pass beyond the universe, this [unfurled] carpet
Beyond the pedestal and beyond the throne
That the bringers of good tidings may greet you
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Remove your you from you
Leave behind body and soul
That theophanies may appear
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Pass on, without looking aside
Without your heart pouring forth to another
That you may drink the pure waters
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
If you desire union with the Beloved
Oh Uftade! Find your soul
That the Beloved may appear before you
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
~~
Other Mystical Poetry:
When the soul is plunged in the fire of divine love, like iron, it first
loses its blackness, and then growing to white heat it becomes like
unto the fire itself. And lastly, it grows liquid, and, losing its nature, is
transmuted into an utterly different quality of being. And as the difference
between iron that is cold and iron that is hot, so is the difference between
soul and soul, between the tepid soul and the soul made incandescent by
divine love.
Richard of St. Victor - de Quattuor Gradibus Violentae Charitatis
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don't let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Also see the Sufi poetry of wahiduddin.
http://wahiduddin.net
----- Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist -- ishq@wahiduddin.net -- Longmont, Colorado -----
Wahiduddin's Web ...Living From The Heart
updated: 13-Aug-2010
A few poems from each of the following authors are included here as examples of the wondrous depth and variety of Sufi poetry:
Attar
Hafiz
Jami
Rumi
Saadi
Sanai
Yunus Emry
Shabistari
Ansari
Rabi'a
Abil Kheir
Sultan Bahu
Ibn 'Arabi
Baba Kuhi
Mansur al-Hallaj
Amir Khusrau
Moinuddin Hasan Chishti
Hazret-i Uftade
Also see the Sufi poetry of wahiduddin.
Attar of Nishapur (1145 - 1221 ce) saint and mystic, one of the most voluminous authors in Persian literature on religious topics. His best-known work, Conference of the Birds, is an elaborate allegory of the soul's quest for reunion with God
So long as we do not die to ourselves,
and so long as we identify with someone or something,
we shall never be free.
The spiritual way is not for those wrapped up in exterior life.
Farid ud Din Attar
~~
Strive to discover the mystery before life is taken from you.
If while living you fail to find yourself, to know yourself,
how will you be able to understand
the secret of your existence when you die?
Farid ud Din Attar
~~
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each a mystic silence Love demands.
What do all seek so earnestly? 'Tis Love.
What do they whisper to each other? Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts.
In Love no longer 'thou' and 'I' exist,
For Self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul,
Behold the Friend; Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds,
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.
Farid ud Din Attar - translation Margaret Smith -The Jawhar Al-Dhat
~~
In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
But those without will remain locked in the coffin.
So, my friends, before the lid of this coffin is taken off,
Do all you can to become a bird of the Way to God;
Do all you can to develop your wings and your feathers."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
The whole world is a marketplace for Love,
For naught that is, from Love remains remote.
The Eternal Wisdom made all things in Love.
On Love they all depend, to Love all turn.
The earth, the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars
The center of their orbit find in Love.
By Love are all bewildered, stupefied,
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each, Love demands a mystic silence.
What do all seek so earnestly? "Tis Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts,
In Love no longer "Thou" and "I" exist,
For self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul
Behold the Friend, Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds
Will find that the secret of them both is Love.
Farid ud Din Attar, in Essential Sufism, James Fadiman and Robert Frager
~~
Four Things to Know
Hatim al-Asamm said, "I have chosen four things to know
and discarded all other things of knowledge.
"The first is this: I know that my daily bread is apportioned
to me and will neither be increased or decreased, so I have stopped
trying to add to it.
"Secondly, I know I owe to God a debt which no one else can
pay for me, so I am busy about paying it.
"Thirdly, I know that there is someone pursuing me ---
Death --- whom I cannot escape from, so I have prepared myself
to meet him.
"Fourth, I know that God is observing me, so I am ashamed
to do what I should not."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
In the dead of night, a Sufi began to weep.
He said, "This world is like a closed coffin, in which
We are shut and in which, through our ignorance,
We spend our lives in folly and desolation.
When Death comes to open the lid of the coffin,
Each one who has wings will fly off to Eternity,
But those without will remain locked in the coffin.
So, my friends, before the lid of this coffin is taken off,
Do all you can to become a bird of the Way to God;
Do all you can to develop your wings and your feathers."
Farid ud Din Attar, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Hafiz of Shiraz (1230-91 ce) the greatest lyric poet of Persia, who took the poetic form of the ghazal to unparalleled heights of subtlety and beauty.
I speak frankly and that makes me happy:
I am the slave of love, I am free of both worlds.
I am a bird from heaven's garden. How do I describe that separation,
my fall into this snare of accidents?
I was an angel and highest paradise was my place.
Adam brought me to this monastery in the city of ruin.
The hours' caress, the pool and shade trees of paradise
were forgotten in the breeze from your alleyway.
There is nothing on the tablet of my heart but my love's tall alif.
What can I do? My master taught me no other letter.
No astrologer knew the constellations of my fate.
O lord, when I was born of mother earth which stars were rising?
Ever since I became a slave at the door of love's tavern
sorrows come to me each moment with congratulations.
The pupil of my eye drains the blood from my heart.
I deserve it. Why did I give my heart to the darling of others?
Wipe the tears from Hafiz's face with soft curls
or else this endless torrent will uproot me.
Hafiz - Ghazal 44 - "The Green Sea of Heaven" - Elizabeth T. Gray Jr
~~
The sun
Won a beauty contest and became a jewel
Set upon God’s right hand.
The earth agreed to be a toe ring on the
Beloved’s foot
And has never regretted its decision.
The mountains got tired
Of sitting amongst a sleeping audience
And are now stretching their arms
Toward the Roof.
The clouds gave my soul an idea
So I pawned my gills
And rose like a winged diamond
Ever trying to be near
More love, more love
Like you.
The Mountain got tired of sitting
Amongst a snoring crowd inside of me
And rose like a rip sun
Into my eye.
My soul gave my heart a brilliant idea
So Hafiz is rising like a
Winged diamond.
Hafiz - “The Gift” – translation by Daniel Ladinsky
~~
We are the guardians of His Beauty
We are the protectors
Of the Sun.
There is only one reason
We have followed God into this world:
To encourage laughter, freedom, dance
And love.
Let a noble cry inside of you speak to me
Saying,
"Hafiz,
Don't just sit there on the moon tonight
Doing nothing -
Help unfurl my heart into the Friend's Mind,
Help, Old Man, to heal my wounded wings!"
We are the companions of His Beauty
We are the guardians
Of Truth.
Every man, plant and creature in Existence,
Every woman, child, vein and note
Is a servant of our Beloved -
A harbinger of joy,
The harbinger of
Light.
Hafiz - "The Subject Tonight is Love" - Daniel Ladinsky
~~
Mortal never won to view thee,
Yet a thousand lovers woo thee;
Not a nightingale but knows
In the rose-bud sleeps the rose.
Love is where the glory falls
Of thy face: on convent walls
Or on tavern floors the same
Unextinguishable flame.
Where the turban'd anchorite
Chanteth Allah day and night,
Church-bells ring the call to prayer,
And the Cross of Christ is there.
Hafiz - "Persian Poems" - R.A. Nicholson
~~
Come,
let's scatter roses and pour wine in the glass;
we'll shatter heaven's roof and lay a new foundation.
If sorrow raises armies to shed the blood of lovers,
I'll join with the wine bearer so we can overthrow them.
With a sweet string at hand, play a sweet song, my friend,
so we can clap and sing a song and lose our heads in dancing.
Hafiz (Ghani-Qazvini, no 374) ' the Shambhala Guide to Sufism' Carl.W Ernst, Ph.D.
Jami (1414 - 1492 ce) (Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Jami) commonly called the last great classical poet of Persia, saint and mystic, composed numerous lyrics and idylls, as well as many works in prose. His Salaman and Absal is an allegory of profane and sacred love. Some of his other works include Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wa -Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa'ih, al-Durrah al-Fakhirah.
~~
Who is man?
The reflection of the Eternal Light.
What is the world?
A wave on the Everlasting Sea.
How could the reflection be cut off from the Light?
How could the wave be separate from the Sea?
Know that this reflection and this wave are that very Light and Sea.
Jami, Diwan, tr by W.C. Chittick
~~
Hidden behind the veil of mystery, Beauty is eternally free from the slightest stain of imperfection. From the atoms of the world, He created a multitude of mirrors; into each one of them He cast the image of His Face; to the awakened eye, anything that appears beautiful is only a reflection of that Face.
Now that you have seen the reflection, hurry to its Source; in that primordial Light the reflection vanishes completely. Do not linger far from that primal Source; when the reflection fades, you will be lost in darkness. The reflection is as transient as the smile of a rose; if you want permanence, turn towards the Source; if you want fidelity, look to the Mine of faithfulness. Why tear your soul apart over something here one moment and gone the next?
Jami, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
Whether your destiny is glory or disgrace,
Purify yourself of hatred and love of self.
Polish your mirror; and that sublime Beauty
From the regions of mystery
Will flame out in your heart
As it did for the saints and prophets.
Then, with your heart on fire with that Splendor,
The secret of the Beloved will no longer be hidden.
Jami, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273 ce) saint and mystic, inspiration for the Mevlevi Order of the whirling dervishes, highly revered for the great Mathnawi which is a grand tribute to the depth of spiritual life.
The Jesus of your spirit is inside you now.
Ask that one for help, but don't ask for body-things...
Don't ask Moses for provisions
that you can get from Pharaoh.
Don't worry so much about livelihood.
Your livelihood will turn out as it should.
Be constantly occupied instead
with listening to God.
Rumi, Mathnawi II:450-454
~~
Listen for the stream
that tells you one thing.
Die on this bank.
Begin in me
the way of rivers with the sea.
Rumi - Coleman Barks - from "Say I Am You"
~~
You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.
What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
So- I've brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.
- Jalaluddin Rumi, Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks, pg141
~~
Longing is the core of mystery.
Longing itself brings the cure.
The only rule is, Suffer the pain.
Your desire must be disciplined,
and what you want to happen
in time, sacrificed.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
~~
Oh! Supreme Lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.
By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself
in the mountains and the desert.
These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.
I'm sick of mortal kings.
I long to see your light.
With lamps in hand
the sheikhs and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.
You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart.
Rumi - 'The Love Poems of Rumi' - Deepak Chopra & Fereydoun Kia
~~
Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You're covered with a thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quiteness is the surest sign
that you've died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon
comes out now.
Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks
~~
The Morning Wind Spreads
The morning wind spreads its fresh smell.
We must get up and take that in,
that wind that lets us live.
Breathe before it's gone.
Rumi - 'The Essential Rumi' - Coleman Barks
~~
Everyone is overridden by thoughts;
that's why they have so much heartache and sorrow.
At times I give myself up to thought purposefully;
but when I choose,
I spring up from those under its sway.
I am like a high-flying bird,
and thought is a gnat:
how should a gnat overpower me?
Rumi - Mathnawi II, 3559-3561 - 'Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance' - Camille and Kabir Helminski
~~
I wonder
from these thousand of "me's",
which one am I?
Listen to my cry, do not drown my voice
I am completely filled with the thought of you.
Don't lay broken glass on my path
I will crush it into dust.
I am nothing, just a mirror in the palm of your hand,
reflecting your kindness, your sadness, your anger.
If you were a blade of grass or a tiny flower
I will pitch my tent in your shadow.
Only your presence revives my withered heart.
You are the candle that lights the whole world
and I am an empty vessel for your light.
Rumi - "Hidden Music" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
~~
Happy the moment when we are seated in the Palace, thou and I,
With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I.
The colours of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality
At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I.
The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us;
We shall show them the Moon itself, thou and I.
Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ecstasy,
Joyful and secure from foolish babble, thou and I.
All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy
In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I.
This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook,
Are at this moment both in ‘Iraq and Khorasan, thou and I.
Jelaluddin Rumi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Awakened by your love,
I flicker like a candle's light
tryin to hold on in the dark.
Yet, you spare me no blows
and keep asking,
"Why do you complain?"
Rumi - "Whispers of the Beloved" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
~~
My heart tells me it is distressed with Him,
but I can only laugh at such pretended injuries.
Be fair, You who are the Glory of the just.
You, Soul, free of "we" and "I,"
subtle spirit within each man and woman.
When a man and a woman become one,
that "one" is You.
And when that one is obliterated, there You are.
Where is this "we" and this "I"?
By the side of the Beloved.
You made this "we" and this "I"
in order that you might play
this game of courtship with Yourself,
that all "you's" and "I's" might become one soul
and finally drown in the Beloved.
All this is true. Come!
You who are the Creative Word: Be
You, so far beyond description.
Is it possible for the bodily eyes to see You?
Can thought comprehend Your laughter or grief?
Tell me now, can it possibly see You at all?
Such a heart has only borrowed things to live with.
The garden of love is green without limit
and yields many fruits other than sorrow or joy.
Love is beyond either condition:
without spring, without autumn, it is always fresh.
Rumi - Mathnawi I, 1779-1794 - The Rumi Collection - Kabir Helminski
Saadi of Shiraz (1215 -1292 ce), a great poet of Persia, author of the Gulistan (Rose-Garden) and the Bostan (Orchard), who also wrote many odes and lyrics.
O bird of the morning, learn love from the moth
Because it burnt, lost its life, and found no voice.
These pretenders are ignorantly in search of Him,
Because he who obtained knowledge has not returned.
Sheikh Muslih-uddin Sa'di Shirazi - The Gulistan of Sa'di
~~
How could I ever thank my Friend?
No thanks could ever begin to be worthy.
Every hair of my body is a gift from Him;
How could I thank Him for each hair?
Praise that lavish Lord forever
Who from nothing conjures all living beings!
Who could ever describe His goodness?
His infinite glory lays all praise waste.
Look, He has graced you a robe of splendor
>From childhood's first cries to old age!
He made you pure in His own image; stay pure.
It is horrible to die blackened by sin.
Never let dust settle on your mirror's shining;
Let it once grow dull and it will never polish.
When you work in the world to earn your living
Do not, for one moment, rely on your own strength.
Self-worshiper, don't you understand anything yet?
It is God alone that gives your arms their power.
If, by your striving, you achieve something good,
Don't claim the credit all for yourself;
It is fate that decides who wins and who loses
And all success streams only from the grace of God.
In this world you never stand by your own strength;
It is the Invisible that sustains you every moment.
Saadi, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Sanai (1118 -1152 ce) (Abû'l-Majd Majdûd b. Adam Sanâ'î) is revered as one of the first great mystical poets of Persia. He produced many lyrical poems and a religious epic, The Walled Garden of Truth.
Don't speak of your suffering -- He is speaking.
Don't look for Him everywhere -- He's looking for you.
An ant's foot touches a leaf, He senses it;
A pebble shifts in a streambed, He knows it.
If there's a worm hidden deep in a rock,
He'll know its body, tinier than an atom,
The sound of its praise, its secret ecstasy --
All this He knows by divine knowing.
He has given the tiniest worm its food;
He has opened to you the Way of the Holy Ones.
Sanai
~~
'The Puzzle'
Someone who keeps aloof from suffering
is not a lover. I choose your love
above all else. As for wealth
if that comes, or goes, so be it.
Wealth and love inhabit separate worlds.
But as long as you live here inside me,
I cannot say that I am suffering.
Sanai, translation by Coleman Barks - 'Persian Poems'
~~
'The Way of the Holy Ones'
Don't speak of your suffering -- He is speaking.
Don't look for Him everywhere -- He's looking for you.
An ant's foot touches a leaf, He senses it;
A pebble shifts in a streambed, He knows it.
If there's a worm hidden deep in a rock,
He'll know its body, tinier than an atom,
The sound of its praise, its secret ecstasy --
All this He knows by divine knowing.
He has given the tiniest worm its food;
He has opened to you the Way of the Holy Ones.
Sanai, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
Those unable to grieve,
or to speak of their love,
or to be grateful, those
who can't remember God
as the source of everything,
might be described as a vacant wind,
or a cold anvil, or a group
of frightened old people.
Say the Name. Moisten your tongue
with praise, and be the spring ground,
waking. Let your mouth be given
its gold-yellow stamen like the wild rose's.
As you fill with wisdom,
and your heart with love,
there's no more thirst.
There's only unselfed patience
waiting on the doorsill, a silence
which doesn't listen to advice
from people passing in the street.
Sanai - "Persian Poems" - Coleman Barks
Yunus Emre - (1241 - 1321 ce). Yunus' poetry made a great impact on Turkish culture.
The drink sent down from Truth,
we drank it, glory be to God.
And we sailed over the Ocean of Power,
glory be to God.
Beyond those hills and oak woods,
beyond those vineyards and gardens,
we passed in health and joy, glory be to God.
We were dry, but we moistened.
We grew wings and became birds,
we married one another and flew,
glory be to God.
To whatever lands we came,
in whatever hearts, in all humanity,
we planted the meanings Taptuk taught us,
glory be to God.
Come here, let's make peace,
let's not be strangers to one another.
We have saddled the horse
and trained it, glory be to God.
We became a trickle that grew into a river.
We took flight and drove into the sea,
and then we overflowed, glory be to God.
We became servants at Taptuk's door.
Poor Yunus, raw and tasteless,
finally got cooked, glory be to God.
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
~~
Ask those who know,
what's this soul within the flesh?
Reality's own power.
What blood fills these veins?
Thought is an errand boy,
fear a mine of worries.
These sighs are love's clothing.
Who is the Khan on the throne?
Give thanks for His unity.
He created when nothing existed.
And since we are actually nothing,
what are all of Solomon's riches?
Ask Yunus and Taptuk
what the world means to them..
The world won't last.
What are You? What am I?
Yunus Emre, translated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
~~
We entered the house of realization,
we witnessed the body.
The whirling skies, the many-layered earth,
the seventy-thousand veils,
we found in the body.
The night and the day, the planets,
the words inscribed on the Holy Tablets,
the hill that Moses climbed, the Temple,
and Israfil's trumpet, we observed in the body.
Torah, Psalms, Gospel, Quran-
what these books have to say,
we found in the body.
Everybody says these words of Yunus
are true. Truth is wherever you want it.
We found it all within the body.
Yunus Emre, yranslated by Kabir Helminski and Refik Algan - 'The Drop That Became Sea'
~~
I am before, I am after
The soul for all souls all the way.
I'm the one with a helping hand
Ready for those gone wild, astray.
I made the ground flat where it lies,
On it I had those mountains rise,
I designed the vault of the shies,
For I hold all things in my sway.
To countless lovers I have been
A guide for faith and religion.
I am sacrilege in men's hearts
Also the true faith and Islam's way.
I make men love peace and unite;
Putting down the black words on white,
I wrote the four holy books right
I'm the Koran for those who pray.
It's not Yunus who says all this:
It speaks its own realities:
To doubt this would be blasphemous:
"I'm before-I'm after," I say
Yunus Emre
~~
Your love has wrested me away from me,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Day and night I burn, gripped by agony,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
I find no great joy in being alive,
If I cease to exist, I would not grieve,
The only solace I have is your love,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Lovers yearn for you, but your love slays them,
At the bottom of the sea it lays them,
It has God's images-it displays them;
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Let me drink the wine of love sip by sip,
Like Mecnun, live in the hills in hardship,
Day and night, care for you holds me in its grip,
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Even if, at the end, they make me die
And scatter my ashes up to the shy,
My pit would break into this outcry:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
"Yunus Emre the mystic" is my name,
Each passing day fans and rouses my flame,
What I desire in both worlds in the same:
You're the one I need, you're the one I crave.
Yunus Emre
Sa'd al-din Mahmud Shabistari(1288 - 1340 ce) is one of the most celebrated authors of Persian Sufism. Because of his gift for expressing the Sufi mystical vision with extraordinary clarity, his Gulshan-i raz or Secret Rose Garden rapidly became one of the most popular works of Persian Sufi poetry.
Go sweep out the chamber of your heart.
Make it ready to be the dwelling place of the Beloved.
When you depart out, He will enter it.
In you, void of yourself, will He display His beauties.
Mahmud Shabistari - 'Rose Garden of Mystery'
~~
'One Light'
What are "I" and "You"?
Just lattices
In the niches of a lamp
Through which the One Light radiates.
"I" and "You" are the veil
Between heaven and earth;
Lift this veil and you will see
How all sects and religions are one.
Lift this veil and you will ask---
When "I" and "You" do not exist
What is mosque?
What is synagogue?
What is fire temple?
Mahmud Shabistari, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Sheikh Ansari Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari (1006-1088 ce) He was called Sheikh al-Islam and he was also given the title Zayn al- 'Ulama (Ornament of the Scholars) and Nasir al-Sunnah (Supporter of the Prophetic Tradition). Later on in Persian texts he was called Pir-e Herat (the Sheikh of Herat).
Some of Ansari works include Kashf al-Asrar "Unveiling of the Secrets" (Commentary of the Qur'an), Tabaquat al-Sufiyya (The Generations of the Sufis), "Munajat" (Intimate Invocations) which is incorporated into the Kashf al-Asrar and in the Tabaqat.
'The Friend Beside Me'
O God
You know why I am happy:
It is because I seek Your company,
not through my own (efforts).
O God,
You decided and I did not.
I found the Friend beside me
when I woke up!
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 407 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'Where Are You?'
O God,
You are the aim of the call of the sincere,
You enlighten the souls of the friends, (and)
You are the comfort of the hearts of the travellers---
because You are present in the very soul.
I call out, from emotion:
"Where are you?"
You are the life of the soul,
You are the rule (ayin) of speech, (and)
You are Your own interpreter (tarjaman).
For the sake of Your obligation to Yourself,
do not enter us into the shade of deception, (but)
make us reach union (wisal) with You.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 5, p. 598 - 'Munajat - The Intimate Invocations' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'Pursuit of the Friend'
The heart left,
and the Friend is (also) gone.
I don't know whether I should go after the Friend
or after the heart!
A voice spoke to me:
"Go in pursuit of the Friend,
because the lover needs a heart
in order to find union with the Friend.
If there was no Friend,
what would (the lover) do with (his) heart?"
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 1, p. 628 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'The Beauty of Oneness'
Any eye filled with the vision of this world
cannot see the attributes of the Hereafter,
Any eye filled with the attributes of the Hereafter
would be deprived of the Beauty (Jamal) of (Divine) Oneness.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 7, p. 511 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
~~
'In Each Breath'
O you who have departed from your own self,
and who have not yet reached the Friend:
do not be sad, (for)
He is accompanying you in each of (your) breaths.
Sheikh Ansari - Kashf al_Asrar, Vol. 7, p. 268 - 'Maqulat-o Andarz-ha - Sayings and Advice' - A.G. Farhadi
Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya (717 - 801 ce) was born in Basra. As a child, after the death of her parents, Rabi'a was sold into slavery. After years of service to her slavemaster, Rabi'a began to serve only the Beloved with her actions and thoughts. Since she was no longer useful to the slaveowner, Rabi'a was then set free to continue her devotion to the Beloved.
Rabi'a taught that the true lover, whose consciousness is unwaveringly centered on the Beloved, is unattached to conditions such as pleasure or pain, not from sensory dullness but from ceaseless rapture in Divine Love.
Rabia was once asked, "How did you attain that which you have attained?"
"By often praying, 'I take refuge in You, O God, from everything that distracts me from You, and from every obstacle that prevents me from reaching You.'"
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
In love, nothing exists between heart and heart.
Speech is born out of longing,
True description from the real taste.
The one who tastes, knows;
the one who explains, lies.
How can you describe the true form of Something
In whose presence you are blotted out?
And in whose being you still exist?
And who lives as a sign for your journey?
Rabia al-Adawiyya
~~
I have two ways of loving You:
A selfish one
And another way that is worthy of You.
In my selfish love, I remember You and You alone.
In that other love, You lift the veil
And let me feast my eyes on Your Living Face.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya. Doorkeeper of the heart:versions of Rabia. Trans. Charles Upton
~~
The source of my suffering and loneliness is deep in my heart.
This is a disease no doctor can cure.
Only Union with the Friend can cure it.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
I have made You the Companion of my heart.
But my body is available to those who desire its company,
And my body is friendly toward its guest,
But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
Brothers, my peace is in my aloneness.
My Beloved is alone with me there, always.
I have found nothing in all the worlds
That could match His love,
This love that harrows the sands of my desert.
If I come to die of desire
And my Beloved is still not satisfied,
I would live in eternal despair.
To abandon all that He has fashioned
And hold in the palm of my hand
Certain proof that He loves me---
That is the name and the goal of my search.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
~~
O Lord,
If tomorrow on Judgment Day
You send me to Hell,
I will tell such a secret
That Hell will race from me
Until it is a thousand years away.
O Lord,
Whatever share of this world
You could give to me,
Give it to Your enemies;
Whatever share of the next world
You want to give to me,
Give it to Your friends.
You are enough for me.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.
O Lord,
If I worship You
From hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.
But if I worship You for Yourself alone
Then grace me forever the splendor of Your Face.
Rabi´a al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert'
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir (Abu Sa'id ibn Ab'il Khair ) (967 - 1049 ce) referring to himself as "nobody, son of nobody" he expressed the reality that his life had disappeared in the heart of God. This revered Persian Sufi mystic from Khorasan preceded the great poet Jalaluddin Rumi by over two hundred years on the same path of annihilation in Love.
Until you become an unbeliever in your own self,
you cannot become a believer in God.
Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir - 'Nobody, Son of Nobody' - Vraje Abramian
~~
If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved,
love everyone.
Whether in their presence or absence,
see only their good.
If you want to be as clear and refreshing as
the breath of the morning breeze,
like the sun, have nothing but warmth and light
for everyone.
Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir - 'Nobody, Son of Nobody' - Vraje Abramian
~~
Beloved, show me the way out of this prison.
Make me needless of both worlds.
Pray, erase from mind all
that is not You.
Have mercy Beloved,
though I am nothing but forgetfulness,
You are the essence of forgiveness.
Make me needless of all but You.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Piousness and the path of love
are two different roads.
Love is the fire that burns both belief
and non-belief.
Those who practice Love have neither
religion nor caste.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Be humble.
Only fools take pride in their station here, trapped in
a cage of dust, moisture, heat and air.
No need to complain of calamities,
this illusion of a life lasts but a moment.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Suppose you can recite a thousand holy
verses from memory.
What are you going to do
with your ego self, the true
mark of the heretic?
Every time your head touches
the ground in prayers, remember,
this was to teach you to
put down that load of ego
which bars you from entering
the chamber of the Beloved.
To your mind feed understanding,
to your heart, tolerance and compassion.
The simpler your life, the more meaningful.
The less you desire of the world,
the more room you will have in it
to fill with the Beloved.
The best use of your tongue
is to repeat the Beloved's Name in devotion.
The best prayers are those in
the solitude of the night.
The shortest way to the Friend
is through selfless service and
generosity to His creatures.
Those with no sense of honor and dignity are best avoided.
Those who change colors constantly
are best forgotten.
The best way to be with those
bereft of the Beloved's qualities,
is to forget them in the
joy of silence in one's corner of solitude.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody"
~~
Drink from this heart now,
for all this loving it contains.
When you look for it again,
it will be dancing in the wind.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart,
never give up, never losing hope.
The Beloved says, "The broken ones are My darlings."
Crush your heart, be broken.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
~~
If you do not give up the crowds
you won't find your way to Oneness.
If you do not drop your self
you won't find your true worth.
If you do not offer all you
have to the Beloved,
you will live this life free of that
pain which makes it worth living.
Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian
Sheikh Sultan Bahu (1628 - 1691 ce) belonged to the Qadiri Order of Sufis and is known by the title of Sultan-ul-Arifin (king of the Gnostics). Born in the Soon Valley, he wrote in both Persian and Punjabi, and is regarded as one of the most prominent Sufi poets of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.
Those who have not realized God will wander,
homeless in this world, destitute in the next.
But watch the lovers dance with ecstasy,
as they merge into the oneness of God [Allah].
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
The river of oneness has surged,
quenching the thirst of the deserts and wastelands.
If you don't nurture God's love in your heart,
you will be dry and parched like those deserts.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
The Lord is an ocean of oneness
in which lovers swim as they please, free of care.
In their own turn, they appear in the world
to dive deep into that ocean, to gather pearls.
Among the pearls is a gem --
unique in value, unmatched in lustre --
that shines like the moon.
We are all in the employ of the Lord, O Bahu;
let us pay homage to him through our prayers.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
Repeat the Name of God,
and always contemplate on Him
while doing your repetition --
keener than a sword is such remembrance [Zikhr, Simran].
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
Repeat the Name of God, O Bahu,
and free yourself from the worries of life.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
~~
Those who enshrine the Lord in their hearts, O Bahu,
have both the worlds at their command.
Lovers remain completely intoxicated
in the ecstasy of their love for the Beloved.
They offer their souls to the Beloved
while still living
and thus immortalize themselves
in this life and the hereafter.
Sultan Bahu, translated by J.R. Puri and K.S. Khak
Muhammed Ibn 'Ali Ibn 'Arabi (1165 - 1240 ce) Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master), he was born into the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain and traveled widely throughout the Islamic countries.
O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Kaa'ba,
and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take,
that is my religion and my faith.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
All that is left
to us by tradition
is mere words.
It is up to us
to find out what they mean.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Were it not for
the excess of your talking
and the turmoil in your hearts,
you would see what I see
and hear what I hear!
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
When my Beloved appears, With what eye do I see Him? With His eye, not with mine, For none sees Him except Himself.
ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
Baba Kuhi of Shiriz, a Persian dervish-poet who died around 1050 ce: (see also a brief essay Eyes of the Heart)
In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw.
In the valley and on the mountain--only God I saw.
Him I have seen beside me oft in tribulation;
In favour and in fortune--only God I saw.
In prayer and fasting, in praise and contemplation,
In the religion of the Prophet--only God I saw.
Neither soul nor body, accident nor substance,
Qualities nor causes--only God I saw.
I oped mine eyes and by the light of His face around me
In all the eye discovered--only God I saw.
Like a candle I was melting in His fire:
Amidst the flames outflashing--only God I saw.
Myself with mine own eyes I saw most clearly,
But when I looked with God's eyes--only God I saw.
I passed away into nothingness, I vanished,
And lo, I was the All-living--only God I saw.
Baba Kuhi, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson
Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj known as al-Hallaj (the wool-carder), he was put to death in Baghdad for having uttered ana 'l haqq (I am the Truth):
I am He whom I love,
and He whom I love is I:
We are two spirits
dwelling in one body.
If thou seest me,
thou seest Him,
And if thou seest Him,
thou seest us both.
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Thy Spirit is mingled in my spirit
even as wine is mingled with pure water.
When anything touches Thee,
it touches me.
Lo, in every case Thou art I!"
al-Hallaj, Kitab al-Tawasin, in The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A Nicholson
~~
Amir Khusrau (1253 - 1325 ce ) Indian Sufi mystic, musician, poet and scholar. He was a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, and is one of the most beloved poets of the Chishti Sufi lineage.
Love came and spread like blood in my veins and the skin of me,
It filled me with the Friend and completely emptied me.
The Friend has taken over all parts of my existence,
Only my name remains, as all is He.
~~
Moinuddin Chishti (1141 - 1230 ce) born in Khorasan. A widely beloved Persian spiritual leader who carried the Chishti lineage to India.
The noise of the lover is only up to
the time when he has not seen his Beloved.
Once he sees the Beloved, he becomes calm and quiet,
just as the rivers are boisterous before they join the ocean,
but when they do so, there are becalmed forever.
~~
The one who knows becomes perfect only when
all else is removed from in-between him and the Friend.
Either he remains or the Friend.
~~
Hazret-i Uftade (1490-1580 ce) Mehmed Muhyiddin Üftade was a widely revered Turkish saint, and founder of the Jelveti order of Sufis who emphasized the return into the midst of society after learning to overcome the lower-self.
If you desire the Beloved, my heart,
Do not cease to pour out lamentations.
Observing His existence, reach annihilation!
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Let tears of blood pour from your eyes
May they emerge hot from the furnace
Say not that he is one of you or one of us
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Let love come that you may have a friend
Your distresses are a torrent
Sweeping you along the way to the Friend
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Take yourself up to the heavens
Meet the angels
And fulfill your desires
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Pass beyond the universe, this [unfurled] carpet
Beyond the pedestal and beyond the throne
That the bringers of good tidings may greet you
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Remove your you from you
Leave behind body and soul
That theophanies may appear
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
Pass on, without looking aside
Without your heart pouring forth to another
That you may drink the pure waters
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
If you desire union with the Beloved
Oh Uftade! Find your soul
That the Beloved may appear before you
Say “Oh He and You who is He”.
~~
Other Mystical Poetry:
When the soul is plunged in the fire of divine love, like iron, it first
loses its blackness, and then growing to white heat it becomes like
unto the fire itself. And lastly, it grows liquid, and, losing its nature, is
transmuted into an utterly different quality of being. And as the difference
between iron that is cold and iron that is hot, so is the difference between
soul and soul, between the tepid soul and the soul made incandescent by
divine love.
Richard of St. Victor - de Quattuor Gradibus Violentae Charitatis
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don't let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Also see the Sufi poetry of wahiduddin.
http://wahiduddin.net
----- Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist -- ishq@wahiduddin.net -- Longmont, Colorado -----
Wahiduddin's Web ...Living From The Heart
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Romantic Love Quotes
"Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love." - Erich Fromm (1900-1980) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao-Tzu (604-531BC) Chinese Philosopher, Co-founder of Taoism
"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. [Romeo and Juliet]" - William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English Poet, Playwright, Actor
"The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're still alive." - Orlando A. Battista (1917~) Canadian-American Chemist, Author
"I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion - I have shudder'd at it. I shudder no more. I could be martyr'd for my religion Love is my religion And I could die for that. I could die for you." - John Keats (1795-1821) English Poet
"Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away." - Elbert Green Hubbard (1856-1915) American Writer, Printer, Businessman
"Love is like a friendship caught on fire: In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep- burning and unquenchable." - Bruce Lee (1940-1973) Chinese-American Actor, Director, Martial Artist
"I love you - those three words have my life in them." - Alexandrea to Nicholas III
"Love is that condition in which The happiness of another person Is essential to your own. [Stranger in a Strange Land]" - Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American Science Fiction Writer
"Tenderness emerges from the fact that the two persons, longing, as all individuals do, to overcome the separateness and isolation to which we are all heir because we are individuals, can participate in a relationship that, for the moment, is not of two isolated selves but a union." - Rollo May (1909-1994) American Psychotherapist
"Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration." - D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) English Author
"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." - Oprah Winfrey (1954~) American TV Personality, Actor
"There are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love." - Bible, I Corinthians 13:13
"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Author, Poet, Wit, Dramatist
"To live without loving is to not really live." - Moliere (1622-1673) [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] French Dramatist, Actor
"Love is the flower - you've got to let grow." - John Lennon (1940-1980) English Singer, Song Writer, Musician
"Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." - Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English Novelist
"A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it - A song's not a song 'til you sing it - Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay - Love isn't love 'til you give it away!" - Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960) American Song Writer
"Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that." - Michael Leunig (1945~) Cartoonist
"I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever." - Sir Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Bengali Poet, Novelist, Composer
"In all the world there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine." - Maya Angelou (1928~) American Actor, Author
"The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love." - Pearl Bailey (1918-1990) American Actor, Singer
"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever." - Francois Mauriac (1885-1970) French Novelist, Essayist, Poet, Playwright
"Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain." - Leo F. Buscaglia (1924-1998) American Psychologist, Author, Educator
"The risk it takes to remain tight inside the bud is more painful than the risk it takes to blossom." - Anais Nin (1914-1977) French-born American Novelist, Dancer
"The quarrels of lovers are like summer storms. Everything is more beautiful when they have passed." - Suzanne Necker
"Love is an ideal thing, marriage is a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) German Poet, Dramatist, Novelist
"Love is a great beautifier." - Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American Novelist, Children's Writer
"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." - Josh Billings (1818-1885) [Henry Wheeler Shaw] American Humorist
"We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person." - W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English Novelist, Playwright
"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) English Poet
"Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other--it doesn't matter who it is-- and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other." - Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Albanian-born Roman Catholic Missionary
"Think about it, there must be higher love Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above Without it, life is a wasted time Look inside your heart, I'll look inside mine." - Stephen Laurence 'Steve' Winwood (1948~) British Musician, Singer
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return. [Moulin Rouge]" - Eden Ahbez (1909-1995) American Songwriter
"What we need to know about loving is no great mystery. We all know what constitutes loving behavior; we need but act upon it, not continually question it. Over-analysis often confuses the issue and in the end brings us no closer to insight. We sometimes become too busy classifying, separating, and examining, to remember that love is easy. It's we who make it complicated." - Leo F. Buscaglia (1924-1998) American Psychologist, Author, Educator
"We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end." - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English Statesman, Author, Prime Minister (1868, 1874-80)
"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love." - Hubert Horatio Humphrey (1911-1978) American Politician
"I'd like to run away From you, But if you didn't come And find me - I would die." - Dame Shirley Bassey (1937~) Welsh Singer
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Blind/Deaf Author, Lecturer, Amorist
"Love doesn't make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) English Poet
"A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears." - Woodrow Wyatt (1918~) English Journalist
"Even though there may be times It seems I'm far away Never wonder where I am 'Cause I am always by your side. [The Power of Love]" - Celine Dion (1968~) Canadian Quebecois Singer
"Paradise is always where love dwells." - Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825) German Novelist, Writer, Aesthetician
Surce: Yuni Words of Wisdom
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao-Tzu (604-531BC) Chinese Philosopher, Co-founder of Taoism
"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. [Romeo and Juliet]" - William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English Poet, Playwright, Actor
"The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're still alive." - Orlando A. Battista (1917~) Canadian-American Chemist, Author
"I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion - I have shudder'd at it. I shudder no more. I could be martyr'd for my religion Love is my religion And I could die for that. I could die for you." - John Keats (1795-1821) English Poet
"Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away." - Elbert Green Hubbard (1856-1915) American Writer, Printer, Businessman
"Love is like a friendship caught on fire: In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep- burning and unquenchable." - Bruce Lee (1940-1973) Chinese-American Actor, Director, Martial Artist
"I love you - those three words have my life in them." - Alexandrea to Nicholas III
"Love is that condition in which The happiness of another person Is essential to your own. [Stranger in a Strange Land]" - Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American Science Fiction Writer
"Tenderness emerges from the fact that the two persons, longing, as all individuals do, to overcome the separateness and isolation to which we are all heir because we are individuals, can participate in a relationship that, for the moment, is not of two isolated selves but a union." - Rollo May (1909-1994) American Psychotherapist
"Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration." - D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) English Author
"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." - Oprah Winfrey (1954~) American TV Personality, Actor
"There are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love." - Bible, I Corinthians 13:13
"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Author, Poet, Wit, Dramatist
"To live without loving is to not really live." - Moliere (1622-1673) [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] French Dramatist, Actor
"Love is the flower - you've got to let grow." - John Lennon (1940-1980) English Singer, Song Writer, Musician
"Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." - Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English Novelist
"A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it - A song's not a song 'til you sing it - Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay - Love isn't love 'til you give it away!" - Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960) American Song Writer
"Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that." - Michael Leunig (1945~) Cartoonist
"I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever." - Sir Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) Bengali Poet, Novelist, Composer
"In all the world there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine." - Maya Angelou (1928~) American Actor, Author
"The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love." - Pearl Bailey (1918-1990) American Actor, Singer
"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever." - Francois Mauriac (1885-1970) French Novelist, Essayist, Poet, Playwright
"Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain." - Leo F. Buscaglia (1924-1998) American Psychologist, Author, Educator
"The risk it takes to remain tight inside the bud is more painful than the risk it takes to blossom." - Anais Nin (1914-1977) French-born American Novelist, Dancer
"The quarrels of lovers are like summer storms. Everything is more beautiful when they have passed." - Suzanne Necker
"Love is an ideal thing, marriage is a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) German Poet, Dramatist, Novelist
"Love is a great beautifier." - Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American Novelist, Children's Writer
"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." - Josh Billings (1818-1885) [Henry Wheeler Shaw] American Humorist
"We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person." - W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English Novelist, Playwright
"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) English Poet
"Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other--it doesn't matter who it is-- and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other." - Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Albanian-born Roman Catholic Missionary
"Think about it, there must be higher love Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above Without it, life is a wasted time Look inside your heart, I'll look inside mine." - Stephen Laurence 'Steve' Winwood (1948~) British Musician, Singer
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return. [Moulin Rouge]" - Eden Ahbez (1909-1995) American Songwriter
"What we need to know about loving is no great mystery. We all know what constitutes loving behavior; we need but act upon it, not continually question it. Over-analysis often confuses the issue and in the end brings us no closer to insight. We sometimes become too busy classifying, separating, and examining, to remember that love is easy. It's we who make it complicated." - Leo F. Buscaglia (1924-1998) American Psychologist, Author, Educator
"We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end." - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English Statesman, Author, Prime Minister (1868, 1874-80)
"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love." - Hubert Horatio Humphrey (1911-1978) American Politician
"I'd like to run away From you, But if you didn't come And find me - I would die." - Dame Shirley Bassey (1937~) Welsh Singer
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Blind/Deaf Author, Lecturer, Amorist
"Love doesn't make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) English Poet
"A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears." - Woodrow Wyatt (1918~) English Journalist
"Even though there may be times It seems I'm far away Never wonder where I am 'Cause I am always by your side. [The Power of Love]" - Celine Dion (1968~) Canadian Quebecois Singer
"Paradise is always where love dwells." - Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825) German Novelist, Writer, Aesthetician
Surce: Yuni Words of Wisdom
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
GIST OF ASHTAVAKRA GITA
I.3. You are neither earth, water, fire, air nor even ether. For, liberation knows your-self as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these five.
I.12. Your real nature is one perfect, free, and action-less consciousness, the all-pervading witness - unattached to anything, desire-less, at peace. It is illusion that you seem to be involved in any other matter.
I.15. You are really unbound and action-less, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to “stilling the mind.”
XI.6. Realising ‘I am not the body, nor is the body mine; I am awareness,’ one attains the supreme state and no longer fritters over things done or undone.
XV.10. Let the body last to the end of the Age, or let it comes to an end right now. What have you, who consist of pure consciousness, gained or lost?
I.19. Just as a mirror exists as part and apart from its reflected images, so the Supreme Lord exists as part and apart from this body.
I.20. Just as one and the same all-pervading space exists within and without a jar, so the eternal, everlasting Being exists in the totality of things.
II.4. Just as waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water, so all this, which has emanated from oneself, is no other than oneself.
XV.16. It is through your ignorance that all this exists. In reality you alone exist. Apart from you there is no one within or beyond samsara.
XVIII.14. There is no delusion, world, meditation on That, or liberation for the pacified great soul. All these things are just the realm of imagination.
XX.1. In my unblemished nature there are no elements, no body, no faculties no mind. There is no void and no despair.
I.6. Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences; you are always free.
XV.5. Desire and anger are objects of the mind, but the mind is not yours, nor ever has been. You are choice less awareness itself, unchanging - so live happily.
XVIII.31. One, whose mind does not set out to meditate or act, meditates and acts without an object.
XII.7.Trying to think the unthinkable is unnatural to thought. . Abandoning such a practice therefore, I am now established.
XIV.1. He who by nature is empty-minded, and who thinks of things only unintentionally, is freed from deliberate remembering, like one awakened from a dream.
I.11. If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying ‘Thinking makes it so’ is true.
XVIII.51. When one sees oneself as neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, then all mind waves come to an end.
VIII.3. Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses.
XVIII.91. Beggar or king, one excels who is without desire, and whose opinion of things is rid of “good” and “bad”.
XVII.4. the person who is not attached to the things he has enjoyed, and does not hanker after the things he has not enjoyed, such a person is hard to find.
XV.1. While a person of pure intelligence may achieve the goal by the most casual of instructions, another may seek knowledge all one’s life and still remain bewildered.
XVIII.49. The straightforward person does whatever arrives to be done, good or bad, for such a one’s actions are like those of a child.
XVIII.33. The ignorant make a great effort to practise one-pointedness and the stopping of thought, while the wise see nothing to be done and remain in themselves like those asleep.
XVIII.36. The stupid does not achieve liberation even through regular practice, but the fortunate one remains free and actionless simply by discrimination.
XVI.10. One who is proud about even liberation or one’s own body, and feels them one’s own, is neither a seer or a mystic. Such a person is still just a sufferer.
XX.4. For one who is always free from individual characteristics there is no antecedent causal action, no liberation during life, and no fulfillment at death.
XVIII.18. The wise man, unlike the worldly man, does not see inner stillness, distraction or fault, even when living like a worldly man.
XVI.1. My dearest, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can forget everything.
XVIII.21. One who is desireless, self-reliant, independent and free of bonds functions like a dead leaf blown about by the wind of causality.
XVIII.22. There is neither joy nor sorrow for one who has transcended samsara. With a peaceful mind one lives as if without a body.
XVIII.25. ‘This action was done by the body but not by me.’ The pure-natured person thinking like this, is not acting even when acting.
XVIII.42. Some think that something exists and others that nothing does. Rare is the person who does not think either, and is therebyfree from distraction.
__________________
SOURCE:SUNKAN PLATINUM ILIFE
I.12. Your real nature is one perfect, free, and action-less consciousness, the all-pervading witness - unattached to anything, desire-less, at peace. It is illusion that you seem to be involved in any other matter.
I.15. You are really unbound and action-less, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to “stilling the mind.”
XI.6. Realising ‘I am not the body, nor is the body mine; I am awareness,’ one attains the supreme state and no longer fritters over things done or undone.
XV.10. Let the body last to the end of the Age, or let it comes to an end right now. What have you, who consist of pure consciousness, gained or lost?
I.19. Just as a mirror exists as part and apart from its reflected images, so the Supreme Lord exists as part and apart from this body.
I.20. Just as one and the same all-pervading space exists within and without a jar, so the eternal, everlasting Being exists in the totality of things.
II.4. Just as waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water, so all this, which has emanated from oneself, is no other than oneself.
XV.16. It is through your ignorance that all this exists. In reality you alone exist. Apart from you there is no one within or beyond samsara.
XVIII.14. There is no delusion, world, meditation on That, or liberation for the pacified great soul. All these things are just the realm of imagination.
XX.1. In my unblemished nature there are no elements, no body, no faculties no mind. There is no void and no despair.
I.6. Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences; you are always free.
XV.5. Desire and anger are objects of the mind, but the mind is not yours, nor ever has been. You are choice less awareness itself, unchanging - so live happily.
XVIII.31. One, whose mind does not set out to meditate or act, meditates and acts without an object.
XII.7.Trying to think the unthinkable is unnatural to thought. . Abandoning such a practice therefore, I am now established.
XIV.1. He who by nature is empty-minded, and who thinks of things only unintentionally, is freed from deliberate remembering, like one awakened from a dream.
I.11. If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying ‘Thinking makes it so’ is true.
XVIII.51. When one sees oneself as neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, then all mind waves come to an end.
VIII.3. Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses.
XVIII.91. Beggar or king, one excels who is without desire, and whose opinion of things is rid of “good” and “bad”.
XVII.4. the person who is not attached to the things he has enjoyed, and does not hanker after the things he has not enjoyed, such a person is hard to find.
XV.1. While a person of pure intelligence may achieve the goal by the most casual of instructions, another may seek knowledge all one’s life and still remain bewildered.
XVIII.49. The straightforward person does whatever arrives to be done, good or bad, for such a one’s actions are like those of a child.
XVIII.33. The ignorant make a great effort to practise one-pointedness and the stopping of thought, while the wise see nothing to be done and remain in themselves like those asleep.
XVIII.36. The stupid does not achieve liberation even through regular practice, but the fortunate one remains free and actionless simply by discrimination.
XVI.10. One who is proud about even liberation or one’s own body, and feels them one’s own, is neither a seer or a mystic. Such a person is still just a sufferer.
XX.4. For one who is always free from individual characteristics there is no antecedent causal action, no liberation during life, and no fulfillment at death.
XVIII.18. The wise man, unlike the worldly man, does not see inner stillness, distraction or fault, even when living like a worldly man.
XVI.1. My dearest, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can forget everything.
XVIII.21. One who is desireless, self-reliant, independent and free of bonds functions like a dead leaf blown about by the wind of causality.
XVIII.22. There is neither joy nor sorrow for one who has transcended samsara. With a peaceful mind one lives as if without a body.
XVIII.25. ‘This action was done by the body but not by me.’ The pure-natured person thinking like this, is not acting even when acting.
XVIII.42. Some think that something exists and others that nothing does. Rare is the person who does not think either, and is therebyfree from distraction.
__________________
SOURCE:SUNKAN PLATINUM ILIFE
Ancient Man And Cosmic Consciousness
Ancient Man lived in a natural state of consciousness. In this state concept like the good and bad, perfect and the imperfect did not exist. Every action was an end in itself. He never sought a purpose to his life or the Universe. Every experience was complete and total. These wise men and women were in communication with the divine. They were guided about an ensuing famine or flood, medicine for an epidemic or the right time for swing seeds by cosmic consciousness.
However, due to multiplicity of factors, man moved away from his natural state and from the transcendental. Thus set in the alienation from God !
However, due to multiplicity of factors, man moved away from his natural state and from the transcendental. Thus set in the alienation from God !
Definition of Spirituality
Definition of Spirituality
It's the "aaah haaa" moments you get that help you
recognize your own inner spirituality.
You are surrounded by spirituality everyday. The definition of spirituality is that which relates to or affects the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. Spirituality touches that part of you that is not dependent on material things or physical comforts.
There is a way to bring spirituality back into the forefront of your everyday life. Spirituality is all around you. Spirituality is in everyone you meet and everywhere you go. You are a spiritual being deep down under the trappings of this material world. Now you can rediscover that spirituality in your everyday life.
• Be aware of your surroundings, see past the physical, and see the spirit in all things. Think of the things that make you happy.
• Look at your loved ones, experience the love you feel for them. That love is pure joy and that's spirituality.
• What makes you smile? That's new age spirituality. The simple sight and sound of a child's laughter, the quiet peaceful sight of a cat napping in the sun, that's spirituality.
• A quiet walk on a spring day, the gentle breeze, the sound of birds chirping, the smell of flowers and freshly cut grass, it's all the definition of spirituality.
Whatever makes you feel peaceful, joyful and content is spirituality.
• Notice all the acts of kindness and good you encounter throughout your day, that's spirituality.
• Devote just a few minutes a day to quietly meditate on all the good things in your life, that's spirituality.
• Read books that inspire you and touch your heart will help determine your personal definition of spirituality. Listen to spiritually focused teachers . There are many that inspire and teach an everyday approach to spirituality, some of which have books listed in the resource section of this article.
I have found that although there is no one magic book, CD, or person that will instantly enable you to find your inner spirituality, each will have something to offer, something that will spark feelings of spirituality . Take what rings true in your heart and build on that. It's the "aaah haaa" moments you get while reading or listening that helps you recognize your own inner spirituality.
Joy, Peace, and Love, Your Birthright
Remember to bring awareness to everyday tasks and remind yourself that you were created by spirit with love and joy. You are a spiritual being first and foremost. Spirituality is your birthright and as much a part of you as the air you breathe. Another definition of spirituality is joy, peace, and love.
Choose to see spirituality in all things by choosing to see the good and joyful side of life. Radiate this joy and spirituality out into the world and come home to your true self your spiritual essence. Learn how to be happy and you will make your world a better place. Living by example is the greatest gift you can give to the humankind.
Source : Living Words of Wisdom
It's the "aaah haaa" moments you get that help you
recognize your own inner spirituality.
You are surrounded by spirituality everyday. The definition of spirituality is that which relates to or affects the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. Spirituality touches that part of you that is not dependent on material things or physical comforts.
There is a way to bring spirituality back into the forefront of your everyday life. Spirituality is all around you. Spirituality is in everyone you meet and everywhere you go. You are a spiritual being deep down under the trappings of this material world. Now you can rediscover that spirituality in your everyday life.
• Be aware of your surroundings, see past the physical, and see the spirit in all things. Think of the things that make you happy.
• Look at your loved ones, experience the love you feel for them. That love is pure joy and that's spirituality.
• What makes you smile? That's new age spirituality. The simple sight and sound of a child's laughter, the quiet peaceful sight of a cat napping in the sun, that's spirituality.
• A quiet walk on a spring day, the gentle breeze, the sound of birds chirping, the smell of flowers and freshly cut grass, it's all the definition of spirituality.
Whatever makes you feel peaceful, joyful and content is spirituality.
• Notice all the acts of kindness and good you encounter throughout your day, that's spirituality.
• Devote just a few minutes a day to quietly meditate on all the good things in your life, that's spirituality.
• Read books that inspire you and touch your heart will help determine your personal definition of spirituality. Listen to spiritually focused teachers . There are many that inspire and teach an everyday approach to spirituality, some of which have books listed in the resource section of this article.
I have found that although there is no one magic book, CD, or person that will instantly enable you to find your inner spirituality, each will have something to offer, something that will spark feelings of spirituality . Take what rings true in your heart and build on that. It's the "aaah haaa" moments you get while reading or listening that helps you recognize your own inner spirituality.
Remember to bring awareness to everyday tasks and remind yourself that you were created by spirit with love and joy. You are a spiritual being first and foremost. Spirituality is your birthright and as much a part of you as the air you breathe. Another definition of spirituality is joy, peace, and love.
Choose to see spirituality in all things by choosing to see the good and joyful side of life. Radiate this joy and spirituality out into the world and come home to your true self your spiritual essence. Learn how to be happy and you will make your world a better place. Living by example is the greatest gift you can give to the humankind.
Source : Living Words of Wisdom
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