Rumi - Words of paradise

 

Love is longing and longing, the pain of being parted; No illness is rich enough for the distress of the heart. 
A lover's lament surpasses all other cries of pain. Love is the royal threshold to God's mystery.
The carnival of small affections and polite attachments Which litter and consume our passing time is no match to Love which pulses behind this play. 
It's easy to talk endlessly about Love, to live Love is to be seized by joy and bewilderment; 
Love is not clear-minded, busy with images and argument. 
Language is too precocious, too impudent, too sane To stop the molten lava of Love which churns the blood. 
This practising energy burns the tongue to silence; The knowing pen is disabled, servile paper Shrivels in the fire of Love. 
Bald reason too is an ass explaining Love, deceived by spoilt lucidity.
Love is dangerous offering no consolation.
Only those who are ravaged by Love know Love. 
The sun alone unveils the sun to those who have the sense to receive the senseless and not turn away. 
Cavernous shadows need the light to play but light and light alone can lead you to the light alone. 
Material shadows weigh down your vision with dross. But the rising sun splits the ashen moon in empty half. 
The outer sun is our daily miracle in timely birth and death, the inner sun dazzles the inner eye in a timeless space.
Our daily sun is but a working star in a galaxy of stars. Our inner sun is One, the dancing nuance of eternal light. 
You must be set alight by the inner sun.
You have to live your Love or else you'll only end in words.

Mathnavi 1, 109

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Ibn Arabi - The world is illusory

 

The world is illusory: it has no real existence.

This is what is meant by "imagination"

(Khayal). You have been made to

imagine that the world is something separate

and independently real, outside of the

Absolute. But in reality it is not so. Do you

not see that in the world of sensory things

a shadow is attached to the person from

whom it originates and that it is impossible

to separate a thing from its essence'?

Therefore know thy own essence and who

thou art, what thy inmost nature is and

what thy relation is to the Absolute. Know

in what respect thou art the Absolute, in

what respect the world, and in what respect

"other" (than God), "different," etc. And

here it is that "knowers" become ranked according

to degrees. 

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David Carse - No guru, no method, no teacher

 

NO GURU, NO METHOD, NO TEACHER...

Meanwhile, some of the dream characters I was brought into contact with in those months after returning from the jungle are evidently making careers out of this awakening, enlightenment gig. I gradually came to realize that I had stumbled upon an extremely bizarre phenomenon of which I had been unaware: an entire enlightenment-seeker subculture populated with all manner of teachers and teachings ranging from the profound to the utterly ludicrous. This is okay of course, in fact it's wonderful; it's part of the dream. And, on the ludicrous end of the spectrum, it makes for a lot of silliness. Dream characters who publicly profess that they have "awakened to God consciousness" and can now, for a fee, show other dream characters how they too can awaken. At best, highly dubious; at worst, blatant hucksterism. Much ranting about what 'level' of awakening they have 'attained;' about the second level of the first stage or the third stage past the fourth level where no one on the planet is, at present, but they will be soon.

Convoluted, artificial complexity and foolish arrogance. The Truth has a radiant, radical simplicity which negates the possibility of any claim to it. Experiences can be claimed. Knowledge can be claimed. Authority, lineage, transmission, can be claimed. However: once your heart and brain are ripped open and what is left of you is found standing in Truth as Truth, any idea of claiming it will reduce you to tears or laughter.

Perfect brillant stillness - Chapter 3.15

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Jackson Peterson - No Separate Places nor Separate Times

 

Nirvana and samsara won’t be found in separate places nor in separate times: the empty nature of samsara is itself nirvana. Not seeing the empty nature of nirvana is itself samsara.

Pure Awareness and afflicted mind won’t be found in separate places nor in separate times. The empty “knowing” nature of the afflicted mind is itself Pure Awareness. Not seeing and knowing the empty nature of Pure Awareness is the afflicted mind.

The ego-self and no-self won’t be found in separate places nor in separate times. The empty nature of the ego-self is indeed the no-self. Clinging to the empty nature of the no-self is indeed itself, the presence of the ego-self. The imagined non-existence of the one, is the imagined existence of the other.

Wisdom and ignorance won’t be found in separate places nor in separate times. Seeing the empty nature of the ignorant mind, is itself wisdom. Not seeing the empty nature of wisdom is indeed ignorance not seen.

Obstacles and release won’t be found in separate places nor in separate times. The empty nature of obstacles is their own release. Not seeing the empty nature of freedom and release, we are bound and obstacled by our own freedom and shackled without release.

We won’t find peace and turbulence in separate places nor in separate times. The empty nature of turbulence is itself our long sought peace. Not seeing the empty nature of our peace, we turn peace into turbulence, like crashing waves that never seem to cease.

The Buddha Mind and samsaric mind won’t be found in separate places nor in separate times, the empty nature of the samsaric mind, is the nature of the Buddha Mind, as all karmic thoughts self-release.

Not seeing the empty nature of our current state of mind, we hope for a future transformation and release; by clearly seeing the empty nature of our current condition, as being the Buddha Mind itself, all seeking and suffering cease.

The material universe and its empty nature, won’t be found in separate places nor in separate times. The form of emptiness isn’t other than the emptiness of form.

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Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī - A kingly secret

 

Today I sit with wine and drinkers.

Today I do not need the puritan or the chaste.

Today none asks what is the drink or who is drunk.

Today the Saqi hands the wine and smiles.

Talk not of the night of separation today.

Today I meet my Beloved and embrace.

Today is celebration and song and Saqi’s eyes.

Today the cup, the jug and wine.

Today I’m drunk and forget morning, noon and night.

Today time passes, and we do not know it’s passed.

Today all is tumult and all is joy and mischief,

The gathering is alive with presence divine.

Forgetting of our selves, we worship the wine.

Today all we desire is the Saqi’s bounty.

Today Shams of Tabriz showed his rivals the way

By the wine of Oneness, not by trivial talk.

Where is the way that I was treading?

I avoid it as it was the wrong way.

One moment spent away from the Beloved’s street

Is forbidden in the religion of the lovers.

Still I say: the path is not easy,

A thousand traps greet each and every step.

O restless heart, come not this way.

Stay at a place that suits you best.

Stay where life is nourished,

Ask for that wine that lightens the soul.

All else is but mere appearance, color, form;

All else is mere battle for name and fame.

Be silent and sit beside at the feet of he

Who is drunk, and all around him drunk.

O Glory of Belief, Shamsuddin,

To Thee I am enslaved body and soul!

On this path of Love sublime,

Anything else is idolatry;

Anything else but light of union,

On this path is unbelief.

If you only see the Beloved,

Your eyes are faulty;

The truthful eye of the lover

Must look to God alone.

Pass by the world of everyday

And drink the wine of Allah’s Way.

Drink of Love, that is life’s elixir pure.

What use has the lover of this world?

The spirit of the Lover pure

Goes beyond the way of this world.

In the calamity of poverty lies

A kingly secret;

Adopt poverty, O traveller,

For that’s the Prophet’s Way.

He’s worshipped by angels.

He is unique and unrivalled.

His dwelling place, beyond the

World we know.

O Glory of Tabriz, Sun of Truth,

Find not fault in me!

In my heart and soul

A fire burns for Thee!

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Eric Baret - Non-difference

 

"When we realize that love is the ultimate resolution, it is expressed in every way."

On a human level, love becomes silent and unexpected, it dissolves the mental process. Without habit or analysis, it ties without being tied.

Thought has no place because when it insists on it, it introduces the meaning of separation and destroys beauty.

Reflection chases magic as perfume escapes possession.

This evidence is only possible when the magnitude of solitude has settled in.

In this space where only love reigns, feeling alone is impossible, because only non-difference reigns.

This unmissable totality is the space where the 'relationship' can appear as a celebration, light intensity that never leaves the background.

At this point, the resonance with a being no longer knows the distance and intimacy is intensity invisible to the world. 

https://www.bhairava.info/

Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī - Tabrizi Sun of Truth and Faith

Shall I call him candle,

picture of love,

heart-stealer,

life-sustainer,

pure spirit,

tall-statured,

infidel,

soul’s beloved?

An old man stomping before his dais like a drunk –

but a sea of knowledge, a philosopher and sage

holding to the hem of knowledge with his teeth

but the smith’s tongs of love

having left him not a single tooth ...

There I am, transfixed by this sage’s light,

the old man completely absorbed in the beloved

He like a mirror’s face, pure reflection

I, two-headed, like a comb

I grew old in that subtile old man’s beauteous glory

I, like a moth in him, he having in me a moth

I finally called out:

Master of all beings in knowledge

and of all the climes in art,

grant us from your grace a small abode

He said:

You are farsighted, but closed of eye –

I’ll tell you. Heed this, the sure and

august counsel of my heart:

My knowledge and knowing,

sagesse and wisdom and culture

see how all of it is drowned

in the beauty

of one rosy-cheeked

and priceless pearl

When I looked, what did I see –

the ruin of the heart and soul

O Muslims, have mercy! O Lord, some aid and succor!

You cloak these words in mystery; say it plain!

Do not fear the jealous, tell true and bravely – who was it?

That Tabrizi Sun of Truth and Faith, that Lord

who turned this laggard by his love into a leader!

Alain Joly - Unaccompanied Awareness

 

Nothing is more beautiful than to be aware choicelessly, effortlessly, without involving a self, a thought that wants to do awareness, to control it, to achieve it. After all, awareness is by virtue of its being, and cannot be rendered more aware than it already is. So awareness blooms when it is left untouched, virgin of a self, free of an ambition or desire to be aware. Awareness is the kind that enjoys being alone, unaccompanied. It doesn’t like to be mimicked or carried by a somebody that feels superior, in charge of being aware. And yet this is what we are doing all the time, being like a commander, a figure of authority. No wonder awareness is leaving the show, retreating in the background, he that has no desire, no ambition other than being, she that feels whole and sufficient, in no need of an other to possess her. You’ve got to let go of wanting to be awareness, for that desire is made of scattered little pieces of ego gathering together in a desperate attempt to keep some control on the situation. There is no desire involved in being aware, for the simple reason that awareness has no desire other than to simply be and shine. Awareness is here now beaming in and as our experience. Noticing is all we can do about it.

But noticing already implies awareness. Don’t think that you are the one who is going to notice awareness. The noticing is awareness itself recognising its own presence, acknowledging it, giving it the freedom to just be. So there is only awareness — no one here that is aware, or even noticing to be aware. That would imply that awareness needs a clutch, a somebody to be aware. This somebody is fictitious, fortuitous, disposable, redundant, not required. Awareness relies on itself only. It is bound together with itself. That’s why it can be depended upon with confidence. If you are awareness, well then you are awareness. Let yourself be taken in the embrace of it, without a second look for yourself. See that there is here and now only the activity of awareness, and renounce to your own, which is no renouncing at all, since there is here no such a thing as a self that is separate from awareness. Just see that you are not there, not at all. There are thoughts, sensations, perceptions, but of a self you won’t find any trace. If you do let go of the idea of a self, then you will come to see that what is left here is awareness alone, which is the only thing there is and that is in capacity of selfing.

So awareness is outrageously simple, since it is the only thing experienced, whether we know it or not. What is complicated is what is entangled, intertwined with awareness, that which has set itself up as an other, may that be a single thought… that’s enough. A single thought is enough to render yourself blind to awareness. Since awareness, or this quality of pure knowing, is all there is, then in a strange and fascinating way, it can be easily displaced or darkened. It needs only the slightest interference, the remotest identification, the minutest belief to be something — a self that has awareness — to send it into the hiding. Thoughts and perceptions have become experts in mimicking a self, stealing the space of awareness for their own purpose, and deceiving ourself into being an entity, a self. There is no self here separate from experience. There is but a plunge into your own being, a sea of awareness without an end or a limit, a free fall which no self could ever cope with, or grasp, or comprehend. This empty being with no objective quality is yourself, all there is to yourself, and its tissue is made of pure awareness. Experience then is realised to be only an appearance devoid of its own individual reality. It is made of that presence which is our essence, whose nature is awareness with nothing beside it.

the dawn within