Daniel Ladinsky - The Holy Water

No one lives outside the walls of this sacred place, existence.

The holy water, I need it upon my eyes: it is you, dear, you – each form.

What mother would lose her infant – and we are that to God,
never lost from His gaze are we? Every cry of the heart
is attended by light’s own arms.

You cannot wander anywhere that will not aid you.

Anything you can touch – God brought it into
the classroom of your mind.

Differences exist, but not in the city of love.

Thus my vows and yours, I know they are the same.

I have just peeled the skin from the potato
and you are still contemplating its worth,
sweetheart; indeed there are wonderful nutrients in all,
for God made everything.

You joined our community at birth.

With your Father being who He is, what do the
world’s scales know of your precious value.

The priest and the prostitute – they weigh the same before the Son’s
immaculate being,
but who can bear that truth and freedom, so a wise man adulterated the
scriptures;
every wise man knows this.

My soul’s face has revealed its beauty to me;
why was it shy so long, didn’t it know how this made me suffer and weep?

A different game He plays with His close ones.

God tells us truths you would not believe,
for most everyone needs to limit His compassion; concepts of
right and wrong preserve the golden seed
until one of God’s friends comes along and tends your body
like a divine bride.

The Holy sent out a surveyor to find the limits of its compassion
and being.

God knows a divine frustration whenever He acts like that,
for the Infinite has no walls.

Why not tease Him about this?

Why not accept the freedom of what it means
for our Lord to see us as Himself.

So magnificently sovereign is our Lover; never say,
“On the other side of this river a different King rules.’

For how could that be true – for nothing can oppose Infinite strength.

No one lives outside the walls of this sacred place, existence.

The holy water my soul’s brow needs is unity.

Love opened my eye and I was cleansed
by the purity of each
form.

 •*¨`*•. ✿ .•*¨`*•

from "Love poems from God"
by Daniel Ladinsky.
Copyright © 1999 by Daniel Ladinsky.

Ken Wilber - Undoing The Great Search

The Great Search

The realization of the Non-dual traditions is uncompromising: there is only Spirit, there is only God, there is only Emptiness in all its radiant wonder. All the good and all the evil, the very best and the very worst, the upright and the degenerate — each and all are radically perfect manifestations of Spirit precisely as they are. There is nothing but God, nothing but the Goddess, nothing but Spirit in all directions, and not a grain of sand, not a speck of dust, is more or less Spirit than any other.

This realization undoes the Great Search that is the heart of the separate-self sense. The separate-self is, at bottom, simply a sensation of seeking. When you feel yourself right now, you will basically feel a tiny interior tension or contraction — a sensation of grasping, desiring, wishing, wanting, avoiding, resisting — it is a sensation of effort, a sensation of seeking.

In its highest form, this sensation of seeking takes on the form of the Great Search for Spirit. We wish to get from our unenlightened state (of sin or delusion or duality) to an enlightened or more spiritual state. We wish to get from where Spirit is not, to where Spirit is.

But there is no place where Spirit is not. Every single location in the entire Kosmos is equally and fully Spirit. Seeking of any sort, movement of any sort, attainment of any sort: all profoundly useless. The Great Search simply reinforces the mistaken assumption that there is some place that Spirit is not, and that I need to get from a space that is lacking to a space that is full. But there is no space lacking, and there is no space more full. There is only Spirit.

The Great Search for Spirit is simply that impulse, the final impulse, which prevents the present realization of Spirit, and it does so for a simple reason: the Great Search presumes the loss of God. The Great Search reinforces the mistaken belief that God is not present, and thus totally obscures the reality of God’s ever-present Presence. The Great Search, which pretends to love God, is in fact the very mechanism of pushing God away; the mechanism of promising to find tomorrow that which exists only in the timeless now; the mechanism of watching the future so fervently that the present always passes it by — very quickly — and God’s smiling face with it.

 •.☆.•

 the separate-self is simply a sensation of seeking

The Eye of Spirit: an integral vision for a world gone slightly mad introduces Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory and includes a great non-dual section in the last chapter. This excerpt contains the first few paragraphs from that chapter.

•.☆.• 

https://integrallife.com/

The Sufi Path of Love with Irina Tweedie

 

The lane of love is narrow,
as narrow as the edge of a sword;
two can not walk on it.
—Bhai Sahib

*•.¸♥¸.•*

 
Irina Tweedie was born in Russia and studied in Vienna and Paris. After the Second World War she married a British naval officer, whose death in 1954 led her on a spiritual quest. Little did she know that her trip to India in 1959, at the age of fifty-two, would mysteriously lead her to a Sufi Master from the Naqshbandiyya-Mujadiddiya Sufi Order, whom she called Bhai Sahib (Elder Brother). This meeting set her upon a journey to the "heart of hearts," the Sufi path of self-realization. 

Read more HERE

Julian of Norwich - Revelations of Divine Love

“God, of thy goodness, give me Thyself;
for Thou art enough for me,
and I can ask for nothing less
that can be full honor to Thee.
And if I ask anything that is less,
ever Shall I be in want,
for only in Thee have I all.”

✿•*¨`*•.༺♥༻ .•*¨`*•✿

“...deeds are done which appear so evil to us and people suffer such terrible evils that it does not seem as though any good will ever come of them; and we consider this, sorrowing and grieving over it so that we cannot find peace in the blessed contemplation of God as we should do; and this is why: our reasoning powers are so blind now, so humble and so simple, that we cannot know the high, marvelous wisdom, the might and the goodness of the Holy Trinity. And this is what he means where he says, 'You shall see for yourself that all manner of things shall be well', as if he said, 'Pay attention to this now, faithfully and confidently, and at the end of time you will truly see it in the fullness of joy.”

― Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love 

Chuck Surface - Love

José de Madrazo - Divine Love and Profane Love

It was only near the end that I realized,
After so many years,
That all I ever wanted was…
Love.

For so long, I lusted for ecstasy,
Or a long lost Shanghri La,
For Heaven,
Or “enlightenment”.

But it was none of these.

When Love, Causeless and Conditionless,
Filled the Serene Emptiness
Left when the felt sense of “i” vanished,
All was Fulfilled.

All was Fulfilled.

I have no need of Samadhis,
Of Ecstasy,
Knowledge,
Or "enlightenment".

Nothing can be added,
Nothing taken away,
Here, in the Heart of Being.
Fullness-Completion-Bliss.

The root of suffering vanished in Surrender.
As did heaven and hell,
Enlightenment and bondage…
And the one who would enjoy or suffer. 

www.chucksurface.com

Hafiz - The Rubaiyat

1

The only vision I have is your sight
The only thing I follow is your light.
Everyone finds his repose in sleep,
Sleep from my eyes has taken flight.

2
Pick up the joy giving wine and come hither.
Temptations of mean foes decline and come hither.
Don’t listen to the one who says sit down and stay;
Listen to me, pick up the line and come hither.

3
I said, your lips said, your lips we revive;
I said, your mouth said, sweetness we derive;
I said your words, he said, Hafiz said;
May all sweet lips be joyous and alive.
4
One, beautiful and full of grace
Mirror in hand, grooming her face
My handkerchief I offered, she smiled,
Is this gift also part of the chase?

5
I put my arms around your waist,
A lover’s embrace to taste.
From your resolve it’s obvious
All my efforts will go to waste.

6
You are the moon and the sun is your slave;
As your slave, it like you must behave.
It is only your luminosity and light
That light of sun and moon can save.

7
A new challenge everyday
You keep away and delay;
When I act to close the gap
Fate says there is a bigger play.

8
My beloved is brighter than the sun,
Put in the heavens, my only one.
Placed the hearts upon the earth
To watch the sun’s daily run.

9
My broken heart’s sorrows are deep.
Painful, disturbed, broken my sleep.
If you don’t believe, send me your thoughts
And you will see how in sleep I weep.

10
Candle’s story how can I tell?
Of the broken heart’s living hell?
My sorrow is in how I can find
Another who knows these sorrows well.

11
First enticed me to take the cup,
When I got drunk, told me to stop.
My eyes watery, my heart on fire,
I became dust and your wind picked me up.

12
All treasures ain’t worth this oppression.
All pleasures ain’t worth one transgression.
Not even seven thousand years of joy
Is worth seven days of depression.

13
Every friend who talked of love, became a foe.
Every eagle shifted its shape to a crow.
They say the night is pregnant, and I say,
Who is the father? And how do you know?

14
Since the flower withers in the dark,
The bud blooms to leave its mark,
Happy is the heart, light as a bubble,
At the tavern is naked, stark.

15
Spend time with wine by a stream,
And let sorrows away stream.
My life, like a rose, is but few days;
Youthful and joyous live this dream.

16
This rose is from the dust of one like me.
His joy within the rose, thus I can see.
My companion and confidant it is, because
The colorful rose brings the sweet scent of he.

17
With fate you still hope to trade;
Passage of time should make you afraid.
You said no color comes after black,
I said my black hair to white degrade.

18
In times of youth, drinking is better.
With the joyful, linking is better.
The world is a mere temporal inn;
With the shipwrecked, sinking is better.

19
You can buy everyone with gold;
Either in one shot, or slowly are sold.
Even the narcissus, pride of the world,
Sold itself, why, its crown of gold behold.

20
This tired life is the flood of age,
With a full cup began this outrage.
Wake up, and see the carrier of time
Slowly carries you along life’s passage.

21
Don’t make me fall in love with that face
Don’t let the drunk the wine seller embrace.
Sufi, you know the pace of this path,
The lovers and drunks don’t disgrace.

22
I needed to hang on to her curly ring,
Help me please, let my affairs take wing.
Said, release my hair, instead take my lips,
Let go of long life, with good times swing.

23
From warriors learn courage,
And wisdom from the sage.
If you truly seek God’s grace,
Ride with the heavenly carriage.

24
At dawn your eyes from Jupiter learn
O God, may fantasies of my mind burn.
The ear adorned with that elegant ring
Gems of Hafiz’s poems may earn.

25
O friend, from your foes your heart release,
In pleasant company drink the good wine with ease.
Confer with those who know, open your heart
And from the ignorant fleas flee like the breeze.

26
One with such beauty none will make.
When her garments off we take
You can see her heart in her fragile breast,
Like a hard rock in a clear lake.

27
The morning breeze tended to the rose,
A maid-in-waiting, as the flower grows.
If in the sun you have a shady refuge,
Seek the shade of a rose, and one who glows.

28
Don’t let go of the cup’s lips
Till you receive your worldly tips.
Bittersweet is the world’s cup
From lover’s lips and the cup sips.

29
I long for your hug and kiss,
I want the wine that will bliss.
Let me cut the story short,
Please return, cause you I miss.

30
I spent my life chasing my wishes
What benefits fate furnishes?
Whomever to I said I loved you,
Turned to my foe, why my luck ravishes?

31
My life has only brought me sorrow;
Love’s good and bad only taught me sorrow.
My constant companion is only pain,
My lover has only bought me sorrow.

32
When there is wine, no need to cry;
Army of sorrows, no need to defy.
Your lips are green, bring forth the wine.
Drinking at the green, everyone must try.

33
Beauty of the rose you eclipse,
Every bud quietly away slips.
How can the rose compete with you?
Rose shines in moonlight, moon in your grips.

34
Your eyes enrapture, and colors pour,
Alas, your love’s arrows score.
Too soon you gave up on the lovers,
Alas, your heart has rocks in store.

35
O breeze, my story quietly share,
My heart’s secrets, to whoever you care.
Tell not to upset or bring sorrow,
Share them with a heart that’s aware.

36
Every flower its beauty bestows,
Your lips the dearest gems dispose.
May your lips nurture our souls
With the wine that every spirit knows.

37
Let not your thoughts constantly be fought,
Let thoughts in patience and joy be caught.
What patience? Cause what they call the heart
Is a drop of blood, and a thousand thought.

38
Bring me the cup that preys on joy;
Bring me a lover who is shy and coy.
The wine that twists and turns like a chain
Bring me to enslave and destroy.

39
With good company and harp and reed
In a corner, jug of wine and time to heed,
The warmth of wine runs through my veins,
Why should I succumb to my greed?

40
O divider of heaven and hell bring relief,
Don’t let us give in to our grief.
How long upon our lives you prey?
Why don’t you hunt our lives’ thief?

 41
I wish that fate would cease this carnage,
And to the lovers give their due wage.
In times of youth the rein in my hands,
Now on the saddle, I ride in old age.

42

If like me, you too fall in this trap,
Hold the wine and cup upon your lap.
We are the lovers, burning our tracks,
Join us, if you can put up with the crap.


Hafiz by © Shahriar Shahriari, Los Angeles

Gilbert Schultz - Seeing.....Presence

Seeing Remains

Seeing is spontaneously happening.
That which is seeing remains invisible.
Everything that is seen appears and disappears without exception, while seeing remains as it is.
You are present and aware.
Do not assign your identity onto anything that is seen, not even onto this body, which you know as your own.
Stay attuned to this spaciousness and remain free and open 

— as THAT which is ‘seeing – knowing’. 

It is NOT conceptual!
You are this light of knowing which is prior to the body and mind.
Some say they can’t see this truth.
It can’t be seen! It is the SEEING!

There is no such thing as ‘Not Seeing’.
All sentient beings are Seeing. It is the very nature of being. 

What is seen is IS-NESS and THIS
does not become anything other than what it IS. 

Ever Fresh and New. Seeing is prior to the form
of any so-called ‘SEER’.
‘You’ can’t stop seeing just like you can’t catch a train that has already left the station. 

Run as fast as you can but you will not catch up with it.
In other words, seeing is the immediacy. The Seer is time bound. 

All the mind’s interpretations are
always ‘after’ the fact. This is happening NOW.
It is not ‘somewhere else’. Everything is IMMEDIATE.
All else is NOT. Yet we cannot affirm nor deny existence for any ‘thing’.
All we know is that ‘I AM’. This wordless presence cannot be negated.
When the seer dissolves into pure seeing, then the journey of deception is over! The seeker is no more!

All there is is SEEING.

If this still does not register clearly with you, then simply acknowledge that seeing is spontaneously
happening.

Presence.

Just — Presence.
You are present and aware.
‘Feel into’ this presence that you are.
Do not imagine anything, just feel into it.
It is not an object, yet it contains all apparent objects.
It is not a subject, yet it contains all apparent subjects.
It has no specific qualities, yet it contains all qualities equally.
Simple presence.
The Ultimate Reality is That.
It is thoughtless, yet it contains all thought.
It is not imaginary, yet it contains all imagination.
Presence.
“I am Presence and nothing other than That”.

Those are taken from the book

Everything Is Clear and Obvious
e-book version December 2007
Gilbert Schultz

which you can find Here

Tim Freke - The Mystery Experience

The Mystery Experience from Timothy Freke on Vimeo.

I want to invite you to immerse yourself in the wonder  that spontaneously arises when we become conscious of the breathtaking mystery of existence.  This life-transforming experience is traditionally described as ‘spiritual awakening’. I call it simply the ‘mystery experience’.

When we dive deeply into the mystery experience we enter a new state of consciousness. We find ourselves knowing something that changes everything. There’s an awe-inspiring oneness with the universe, an ecstatic feeling of limitless love, and an exhilarating passion for the adventure of life.

I have spent my life exploring  the mystery experience and I can guide you directly to it.  If you’d like to taste this deep awake state for yourself, then I invite you to explore my revolutionary new approach to spiritual awakening, by checking out my new book and life-transforming retreats.

Tim website here

 by Scott Zeigler