Ali ibn Abi Talib - What you seek is within you

“Your Remedy is within you,
but you do not sense it.
Your Sickness is from you,
but you do not perceive it.
You Presume you are a small entity,
But within you is enfolded
the entire universe.
You are indeed the evident book,
By whose alphabet the hidden
becomes the manifest.
Therefore, you have no need
to look beyond yourself,
What you seek is within you,
if only you reflect.”

 

Jiddu Krishnamurti and Pure Silence

"Thought comes to an end. Then there is that sense of absolute silence in the brain. All the movement of thought has ended. It has ended but it can be brought into activity when there is necessity in the physical world, Now, it is quiet. It is silent. And where there is silence there must be space, immense space, because there is no self. The self has its own limited space, it creates its own little space. But when the self is not, which means the activity of thought is not, then there is vast silence in the brain because it is now free of all its conditioning."

    "And it is only where there is space and silence that something new can be that is untouched by time/thought. That may be the most holy, the most sacred - may be. You cannot give it a name. It is perhaps the unnamable. And when there is that, then there is intelligence and compassion and love. So life is not fragmented. It is a whole unitary process, moving, living."

    "And death is as important as life, as living. They go together. Living means dying. To end all the trouble, the pain, anxiety, is dying. It is like two rivers moving together with tremendous volumes of water. And all this is part of meditation. We have gone into the human nature, and nobody can bring about a radical mutation in that except you yourself."

From "This Light in Oneself" by Jiddu Krisnamurti, Shambala Books 1999.

Charlie Chaplin - As I began to love myself...

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is AUTHENTICITY.

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody as I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it RESPECT.

As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it MATURITY.

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment, so I could be calm. Today I call it SELF-CONFIDENCE.

As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it SIMPLICITY.

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything the drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism.Today I know it is LOVE OF ONESELF.

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is MODESTY.

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it FULFILLMENT.

As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection WISDOM OF THE HEART.

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know THAT IS LIFE!

 

 

Jami - Heart on fire

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? 

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.

 

Saint John of the Cross - Living fountain

"Well I know the fountain that runs and flows,
though it is night!"

This eternal fountain is hidden deep.
Well I know where it has its spring,
Though it is night!

In this life's dark night,
Faith has taught where this cold fountain lies,
Though it is night!

Its origin I cannot know, it has none,
And I know all origins come from it,
Though it is night!

And I know there can be nothing more fair,
The heavens and earth drink there,
Though it is night!

And I know it has no bed,
And I know no one can cross its depths,
Though it is night!

Its clarity is never clouded,
And I know all light shines from it,
Though it is night!

I know her streams swell so abundantly,
They water people, heaven and even hell,
Though it is night!

The current born of this fountain
I know to be wide and mighty,
Though it is night!

And from these two another stream flows,
And I know neither comes before,
Though it is night!

I know Three in only one water live,
And each the other feeds,
Though it is night!

This eternal fountain is hiding from sight
Within this living bread to give us life,
Though it is night!

He calls all creatures to this light,
And of this water they drink, though in the dark,
Though it is night!

This living fountain I desire,
I see it here within this living bread,
Though it is night!

 

Abu-Said Abil-Kheir - At the feet of My Beloved

When the desire for the Friend became real,
all existence fell behind.
The Beloved wasn't interested in my reasoning,
I threw it away and became silent.
The sanity I had been taught became a bore,
it had to be ushered off.
Insane, silent and in bliss,
I spend my days with my head
at the feet of My Beloved.