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Saturday, August 15, 2020

Rumi ♡ Don't Go Without Me (narrated)

 

 

 Dancing in ecstasy you go,

my soul of souls –

Don’t go without me.
Laughing with your friends
you enter the garden –

Don’t go without me.

Don’t let the sky turn without me.
Don’t let the Moon shine without me.
Don’t let the Earth spin without me.
Don’t let the days pass without me.


The two worlds are joyous
because of you.

Don’t stay in this world without me.
Don’t go to the next world without me.

Don’t let your eyes look without me.
Don’t let your tongue speak without me.
Don’t let your hands hold without me.
Don’t let your soul stir without me.


Moonlight reveals the sky’s bright face.
I am the light, you are the Moon –
Don’t rise without me.

The thorn is protected by the rose!
You are the rose, I am the thorn –
Don’t show your beauty without me.


Oh joyous companion of the King,
Don’t drink without me.
Oh watchman on the rooftop,
Don’t stay up without me.

Woe to those who travel alone . . .
You know every sign,
You’ve walked upon every path –
Don’t go without me.


Some call you love,
I call you the King of Love.
You are beyond all imaginings,
taking me places
I can’t even dream of.

Oh Ruler of my Heart,
wherever you go . . .


Don’t go without me.

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Thomas Merton - Solitude – The Communion with Silence

 

The solitary life, being silent, clears away the smoke-screen of words
that man has laid down between his mind and things.

In solitude we remain face to face with the naked being of things.

And yet we find that the nakedness of reality which we have feared,
is neither a matter of terror nor for shame.

It is clothed in the friendly communion of silence,
and this silence is related to love.

The world our words have attempted to classify, to control and even
to despise (because they could not contain it) comes close to us,
for silence teaches us to know reality by respecting it
where words have defiled it.

When we have lived long enough alone with the reality around us,
our veneration will learn how to bring forth a few good words
about it from the silence which is the mother of Truth.

Words stand between silence and silence:
between the silence of things and
the silence of our own being.

Between the silence of the world
and the silence of God.

When we have really met and known the world in silence,
words do not separate us from the world nor from other men,
nor from God, nor from ourselves because we no longer
trust entirely in language to contain reality.

Truth rises from the silence of being
to the quiet tremendous presence of the Word.

Then, sinking again into silence, the truth of words
bears us down into the silence of God.

Or rather God rises up out of the sea
like a treasure in the waves,
and when language recedes
His brightness remains
on the shores of our own being. 

 

 

 http://merton.org/

via stillnessspeaks 

 

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Rumi ♡ Let's fly to the heavens' high

 

 How should the soul not take wings
when from the Glory of God
It hears a sweet, kindly call:
"Why are you here, soul? Arise!"
How should a fish not leap fast
into the sea form dry land
When from the ocean so cool
the sound of the waves reaches its
How should the falcon not fly
back to his king from the hunt
When from the falconer's drum
it hears to call: "Oh, come back"?
Why should not every Sufi
begin to dance atom-like
Around the Sun of duration
that saves from impermanence?
What graciousness and what beauty?
What life-bestowing! What grace!
If anyone does without that, woe-
what err, what suffering!
Oh fly , of fly, O my soul-bird,
fly to your primordial home!
You have escaped from the cage now-
your wings are spread in the air.
Oh travel from brackish water
now to the fountain of life!
Return from the place of the sandals
now to the high seat of souls!
Go on! Go on! we are going,
and we are coming, O soul,
From this world of separation
to union, a world beyond worlds!
How long shall we here in the dust-world
like children fill our skirts
With earth and with stones without value,
with broken shards without worth?
Let's take our hand from the dust grove,
let's fly to the heavens' high,
Let's fly from our childish behaviour
and join the banquet of men!
Call out, O soul, to proclaim now
that you are rules and king!
You have the grace of the answer,
you know the question as well!

Translated by Annemarie Schimmel, 'Look! This is Love'

 

 

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya - In days gone by

 

 

 In days gone by I used to be
A potter who would feel
His fingers mould the yielding clay
To patterns on his wheel;
But now, through wisdom lately won,
That pride has gone away,
I have ceased to be the potter
And have learned to be the clay.

In other days I used to be
A poet through whose pen
Innumerable songs would come
To win the hearts of men;
But now, through new-got knowledge
Which I had not had so long,
I have ceased to be the poet
And I have learned to be the song.

I was a fashioner of swords,
In days that are now gone,
Which on a hundred battle-fields
Glittered and gleamed and shone;
But now I am brimming with
The silence of the Lord,
I have ceased to be the sword-maker
And I have learned to be the sword.

In by-gone days I used to be
A dreamer who would hurl
On every side an insolence
Of emerald and pearl,
But now I am kneeling
At the feet of the Supreme
I have ceased to be the dreamer
And I have learned to be the dream.

 

 

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Eric Baret - Silence

 

 

We do not become silence.
We realize this constant silence behind our physical and mental activities.
We are one with it in deep sleep.
It is the backdrop to the dreaming and waking state.
We are one with this silence between two thoughts,
between two perceptions,
between inspiration and expiration.
There is a feeling of silence. 

 

 

 

Rumi ♡ How long...

 

   how long
can i lament
with this depressed
heart and soul

how long
can i remain
a sad autumn
ever since my grief
has shed my leaves

the entire space
of my soul
is burning in agony

how long can i
hide the flames
wanting to rise
out of this fire

how long can one suffer
the pain of hatred
of another human
a friend behaving like an enemy

with a broken heart
how much more
can i take the message
from body to soul

i believe in love
i swear by love
believe me my love

how long
like a prisoner of grief
can i beg for mercy

you know i'm not
a piece of rock or steel
but hearing my story
even water will become
as tense as a stone

if i can only recount
the story of my life
right out of my body
flames will grow

 

 

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Rumi ♡ From Self to Self

 

 
 
 
The seeds of His love blossom in every heart.
The sounds of His flute fill every celebration.
Everyone thinks that he sings and dances
But no---
He is the only one singing,
He is the only one dancing.

If a tree could run or fly
it would not suffer from the teeth of a saw
or the blows of an axe.

If the Sun did not run across the sky
the world would not see
the colors of morning.
If water did not rise from the sea
plants would not be quickened
by rivers or rain.

It’s only when a drop leaves the ocean—and returns—
that it can find an oyster
and become a pearl.

But you have no need to go anywhere—
journey within yourself.
Enter a mine of rubies
and bathe in the splendor of your own light.

O great one,

Journey from self to Self
and find the mine of gold.

Leave behind what is sour and bitter—
move toward what is sweet.

Be like the thousand different fruits
that grow from briny soil.

This is the miracle—

Every tree becomes beautiful
when touched by sunlight;

Every soul becomes God
when touched by the Sun of Tabriz.
 
 
 

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Tony Parsons - The wonderful mystery






"The idea that presumes the possibility that dualistic practices can lead the apparent seeker to the non¬dualistic perception is similar to the idea that with sufficient effort and determination you can teach a blind man to see.
To quote "Doctrines, processes and progressive paths which seek enlightenment only exacerbate the problem they address by reinforcing the idea that the apparent self can find something it presumes it has lost. It is that very effort, that investment in self¬identity that continuously recreates the illusion of separation from oneness. This is the veil which we believe exists. It is the dream of individuality." (The Open Secret)
Out of all the many awakenings that have been described to me, it is continuously confirmed that one of the first realizations that arises is the seeing that no¬one awakens. And yet we see that the majority of teachings, both traditional and contemporary, are constantly speaking to an apparent separate seeker (subject) and recommending that in order to attain enlightenment (object) they should choose to meditate, self¬enquire, purify, cultivate understanding, still the mind and the ego, surrender, be honest, seek earnestly , give up seeking, do therapy, do nothing, be here now, and so on . . . the ideas are as endless and as complicated as the mind from where they are generated.
These recommendations arise from the belief that the "enlightenment" of the "teacher" has been attained or earned through the application of choice, effort, acceptance or surrender, and that other seekers can be taught to do the same.
Of course there can be nothing right or wrong with earnest seeking, meditation, self enquiry, understanding and so on. They are simply what they appear to be. But who is it that is going to choose to make the effort? Where is the effort going to take the apparent chooser to? ¬ where is there to go if there is only oneness? If there is no separate individual there is no volition, and so how can an illusion dispel itself?
There is no person that becomes enlightened. No¬one awakens. Awakening is the absence of the illusion of individuality. Already there is only awakeness, oneness, timeless being, radical aliveness. When the dream seeker is no more it is seen (by no¬one) that there is nothing to seek and no¬one to become liberated.
Here is oneness, the realisation of wholeness that cannot be attained or owned. This is the awakening in which the awareness of what is arises together with the dreaming of that which cannot be known. There can be a dance between dreaming and being, and in that dance there can be a return to the fascination of personal ownership.
However, the realisation that the dream seeker is also oneness is liberation, the uncaused, impersonal, silent stillness which is the celebration of unconditional love. This is all there is.
There is no me or you , no seeker, no enlightenment, no disciple and no guru . There is no better or worse, no path or purpose, and nothing that has to be achieved.
All appearance is source. All that apparently manifests in the hypnotic dream of separation ¬ the world, the life story, the search for home, is one appearing as two the nothing appearing as everything, the absolute appearing as the particular.
There is no separate intelligence weaving a destiny and no choice functioning at any level. Nothing is happening but this, as it is, invites the apparent seeker to rediscover that which is . . . the abiding, uncaused, unchanging, impersonal silence from which unconditional love overflows and celebrates. It is the wonderful mystery."