James Eaton - The Fool

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” William Shakespeare, As You Like It

 

Why is it that Chinese Emperors, Egyptian Pharaohs and English Kings and Queens reputedly consulted with fools and court jesters? Because the fool is unburdened by the expectations and conventions of society, is unconstrained by the shoulds and shouldn’ts, the need to keep up appearances, is entirely free to cut through our man-made-up concepts and beliefs to expose the unmodified truth.

So what if we are the fool, what if we dare to step outside our mental framework of ideas and explore the sensual reality of the moment?

Through the eyes of the fool we discover that we have no eyes, that what we are is not an isolated person looking out at the world but rather this entire colourful image of life happening, that a computer keyboard is no less ourSelf than the fingers that dance across its keys, that the cry of a bird, the image of open sky, the sound of children playing, the taste of peppermint tea, the fizzing aliveness of sensations, the wonder of unbridled joy, the intense sorrow of grief, every experience experiencable is our infinitely creative Self shapeshifting into ever fresh, ingenious compositions.

It’s in this fool’s wisdom, which our thought-made version of reality regards as pure madness, that we discover the magical homecoming for which we’ve always longed.

jameseaton.org 

Amma - Love

"Love is our true essence."


"You can only feel love by expressing it."


"The more you give, the more your heart is filled. Love is a never ending stream."


“Real love is the complete absence of any negative feelings towards anyone.”


"Be like the honeybee who gathers only nectar wherever it goes. Seek the goodness that is found in everyone."


"When love overflows and is expressed through every word & deed, we call it compassion. That is the goal of religion."


“Love is the only medicine that can heal the wounds of the world.”


"If we have love and compassion in our hearts, then we will wholeheartedly serve those who suffer from lack of food, clothing and shelter.”


"May your thoughts, words and actions arise from love.”


“Love one another without any expectations. Then,there is no need to go anywhere in search of heaven.”

http://amma.org/ 

Khwaja Abdullah Ansari - Absorbed in Him

From the un-manifest I came,
And pitched my tent, in the Forest of Material existence.
I passed through mineral and vegetable kingdoms,
Then my mental equipment carried me into the animal kingdom;
Having reached there I crossed beyond it;
Then in the crystal clear shell of human heart
I nursed the drop of self in a Pearl,
And in association with good men
Wandered round the Prayer House,
And having experienced that, crossed beyond it;
Then I took the road that leads to Him,
And became a slave at His gate;
Then the duality disappeared
And I became absorbed in Him.

 Sheikh Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Sheikh Ansari Jabir ibn 'Abdullah al-Ansari, also known as Ansari of Herat, was born in Herat, in western Afghanistan.

Some of Sheikh Ansari's 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.��

Khwaja Abdullah Ansari died in Herat the year 1088, and his burial place in Herat is still a place of pilgrimage for thousands of Sufis and the faithful every year. 

Source 

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee - Longing

"..Longing is the feminine side of love—the cup waiting to be filled. Love has a masculine side, “I love you,” and a feminine side, “I am
Longing is the feminine side of love—the cup waiting to be filled. Love has a masculine side, “I love you,” and a feminine side, “I am waiting for you. I need you.” Sadly our culture has forgotten this doorway of devotion, and the lover is often left stranded, not ever knowing the real nature and purpose of the longing that tugs at the heart. It is easy to think that this discontent of the soul is a psychological problem or the result of an unhappy relationship. But the Sufi knows this pain is the sweetness of love’s poison, and is often the most direct way Home, as it bypasses the mind and all of its distractions and arguments. It is a call direct to the heart."

From: Within the Heart of Hearts: A Story of Mystical Love
Chapter: Longing 

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Kahlil Gibran - On Love

art Kahlil Gibran

 When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north winds
lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he
is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest
branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become
sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall ove do unto you that youmay know the secrets
of your heart, and in tht knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass
out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all
your laughter, and weep, but not all your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Loves possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love,
if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire fut to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these
be your desires:

** To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
** To know the pain of too much tenderness.
** To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
** And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
** To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
** To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's esctasy;
** To return home at eventide with gratitude;
** And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

 The Prophet

Sri Ramana Maharshi - Silence : ever-speaking voice

Silence : ever-speaking voice / सनातन / नित्य-वाणी

Silence is ever-speaking (सनातन / नित्य-वाणी); it is a perennial flow of language; it is interrupted by speaking. These words obstruct that mute language. There is electricity flowing in a wire. With resistance to its passage, it glows as a lamp or revolves as a fan. In the wire it remains as electric energy. Similarly also, silence is the eternal flow of language, obstructed by words.

What one fails to know by conversation extending to several years can be known in a trice in Silence, or in front of Silence - e.g., श्रीदक्षिणामूर्ति Dakshinamurti, and his four disciples.

That is the highest and most effective language.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi (from Talk 246.)


- Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya !
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते श्री रमणाय ॥ 

source 

 

art Hossein Irandoust