~Ibn 'Arabi ~

From my waxing to my waning, and from the void of my moon to its crescent From my pursuit to my flight, and from my steed to my gazelle From my breeze to my boughs, and from my boughs to my shade From my shade to my delight, and from my delight to my torment From my torment to my likeness, and from my likeness to my impossibility From my impossibility to my validity, and from my validity to my deficiency. I am no one in existence but myself, so- Whom do I treat as foe and whom do I treat as friend? Whom do I call to aid my heart, pierced by a penetrating arrow, When the one who shot the arrow is my eyelid, striking my heart without an archer? Why defend my station? It matters little to me, what do I care? For I am in love with none other than myself, and my very separation is my union. Do not blame me for my passion. I am inconsolable over Him who has fled me.
~Ibn 'Arabi ~

Quote a day

To lose something is an illusion because everything we own is just a mirage!

And you, you cannot lose something which is not yours!

~ Mehmet Murat ildan ~

~ Snowflakes ~

We have all heard that no two snowflakes are alike. Each snowflake takes the perfect form for the maximum efficiency and effectiveness for its journey. And while the universal force of gravity gives them a shared destination, the expansive space in the air gives each snowflake the opportunity to take their own path. They are on the same journey, but each takes a different path.

Along this gravity-driven journey, some snowflakes collide and damage each other, some collide and join together, some are influenced by wind... there are so many transitions and changes that take place along the journey of the snowflake. But, no matter what the transition, the snowflake always finds itself perfectly shaped for its journey.

I find parallels in nature to be a beautiful reflection of grand orchestration. One of these parallels is of snowflakes and us. We, too, are all headed in the same direction. We are being driven by a universal force to the same destination. We are all individuals taking different journeys and along our journey, we sometimes bump into each other, we cross paths, we become altered... we take different physical forms. But at all times we too are 100% perfectly imperfect. At every given moment we are absolutely perfect for what is required for our journey. I’m not perfect for your journey and you’re not perfect for my journey, but I’m perfect for my journey and you’re perfect for your journey. We’re heading to the same place, we’re taking different routes, but we’re both exactly perfect the way we are.

Think of what understanding this great orchestration could mean for relationships. Imagine interacting with others knowing that they too each share this parallel with the snowflake. Like you, they are headed to the same place and no matter what they may appear like to you, they have taken the perfect form for their journey. How strong our relationships would be if we could see and respect that we are all perfectly imperfect for our journey.

~ Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free ~

Rabia ~ Al ~ Basri

THE SKY GAVE ME ITS HEART....
              ~◆~
The sky gave me its heart
because it knew mine was not large enough to care
for the earth the way it did.
~
Why is it we think of God so much?
Why is there so much talk about love?
~
When an animal is wounded
no one has to tell it, "You need to heal";
so naturally it will nurse itself the best it can.
~
My eye kept telling me, "Something is missing from
all I see."
So I went in such of the cure.
The cure for it was His Beauty.
The remedy, for me, was to love.
                ~◆~

◆ Rabia ~ Al ~ Basri ◆

Walk of life ~

You will meet many types of people in your life. You will meet those that are like delicate flowers, raging oceans, quiet forests, towering mountains, and colorful skies. You will meet those who care less like thunderstorms, you will meet lightning. They will knock you down, they will leave you breathless. You will meet sunrises, you will meet gardens. They will give you light, they will take you on adventures. Explore them. Get lost with them. They all have something different to teach you.

Forever — is composed of Nows by Emily Dickinson

Forever — is composed of Nows
by
~ Emily Dickinson ~

Forever — is composed of Nows —
‘Tis not a different time —
Except for Infiniteness —
And Latitude of Home —

From this — experienced Here —
Remove the Dates — to These —
Let Months dissolve in further Months —
And Years — exhale in Years —

Without Debate — or Pause —
Or Celebrated Days —
No different Our Years would be
From Anno Domini’s —

Rumi ~ & Omar Khayyam ~

          ~Who is at my door?~

                   ~Rumi~

He said, "Who is at my door?"
I said, "Your humble servant."
He said, "What business do you have?"
I said, "To greet you, 0 Lord."

He said, "How long will you journey on?"
I said, "Until you stop me."
He said, "How long will you boil in the fire?"
I said, "Until I am pure.

"This is my oath of love.
For the sake of love
I gave up wealth and position."

He said, "You have pleaded your case
but you have no witness."
I said, "My tears are my witness;
the pallor of my face is my proof.'
He said, "Your witness has no credibility;
your eyes are too wet to see."
I said, "By the splendor of your justice
my eyes are clear and faultless."

He said, "What do you seek?"
I said, "To have you as my constant friend."
He said, "What do you want from me?"
I said, "Your abundant grace."

He said, "Who was your companion on the 'ourney?
I said, "The thought of you, 0 King."
He said, "What called you here?"
I said, "The fragrance of your wine."

He said, "What brings you the most fulfillment?"
I said, "The company of the Emperor."
He said, "What do you find there?"
I said, "A hundred miracles."
He said, "Why is the palace deserted?"
I said, "They all fear the thief."
He said, "Who is the thief?"
I said, "The one who keeps me from -you.

He said, "Where is there safety?"
I said, "In service and renunciation."
He said, "What is there to renounce?"
I said, "The hope of salvation."

He said, "Where is there calamity?"
I said, "In the presence of your love."
He said, "How do you benefit from this life?"
I said, "By keeping true to myself

Now it is time for silence.
If I told you about His true essence
You would fly from your self and be gone,
and neither door nor roof could hold you back!

 

(There was a Door to which I found no Key: by Omar Khayyam)

here was a Door to which I found no Key:

There was a Veil through which I could not see:

 Some little Talk awhile of Me and Thee
There seemed — and then no more of Thee and Me.

~ from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ~
(by Omar Khayyam) (Translated by Edward FitzGerald)

~Rumi poems ~

~Passion makes the old medicine new~
Passion makes the old medicine new:
Passion lops off the bough of weariness.
Passion is the elixir that renews
how can there be weariness
when passion is present?
Oh, don't sigh heavily from fatigue:
seek passion, seek passion, seek passion!
            ~◆~

~The beauty of the heart~
The beauty of the heart
is the lasting beauty:
its lips give to drink
of the water of life.
Truly it is the water,
that which pours,
and the one who drinks.
All three become one when
your talisman is shattered.
That oneness you can't know
by reasoning.
                    ~◆~

 ~Ode 314~

Those who don't feel this Love
pulling them like a river,
those who don't drink dawn
like a cup of spring water
or take in sunset like supper,
those who don't want to change,let them sleep. 

This Love is beyond the study of theology,
that old trickery and hypocrisy.
I you want to improve your mind that way, sleep on. 

I've given up on my brain.
I've torn the cloth to shreds
and thrown it away. 

If you're not completely naked,
wrap your beautiful robe of words
around you, and sleep. 

A lifetime without Love is of no account
Love is the Water of Life
Drink it down with heart and soul! 

Last night you lfet me and slepty our own deep sleep. 

Tonight you 

                                  turn and turn. 

I say,"You and I will be together

till the universe dissolves."

You mumble back things you thought of

when you were drunk.

Quote a day

“Few realize that since the universe is made up of individuals in various stages of development, responsibility is consequently individual, and everything which man wishes to gain he must himself build and maintain.”

~ M. P. Hall~

Osho quotes i love

"I don’t think existence wants you to be serious. I have not seen a serious tree. I have not seen a serious bird. I have not seen a serious sunrise. I have not seen a serious starry night. It seems they are all laughing in their own ways, dancing in their own ways. We may not understand it, but there is a subtle feeling that the whole existence is a celebration.  Learn to laugh. Seriousness is a sin, and it is a disease. Laughter has tremendous beauty, a lightness. It will bring lightness to you, and it will give you wings to fly."  "A child has nothing to do with age. Childhood is a state. You can be old and yet a child. You can be a child and yet old. Childhood is a certain attitude deep inside you, of your being ready to learn; that from wherever and whatsoever source life comes, you will be ready to receive; that in your heart there is a deep welcome; that you are not afraid; that you are not yet crippled by knowledge, information; that you are still in a flow and not frozen." 

 First thing in the morning, imagine yourself tremendously happy. Get out of bed in a very happy mood — radiant, bubbling, expectant — as if something perfect, of infinite value, is going to happen today. Get out of the bed in a very positive and hopeful mood, with the feeling that this day is not going to be an ordinary day — that something exceptional, extraordinary, is waiting for you; something is very close by. Try and remember it again and again for the whole day. Within seven days you will see that your whole pattern, your whole style, your whole vibration, has changed.When you go to sleep in the night, just imagine that you are falling into divine hands…as if existence is supporting you, that you are in its lap, falling asleep. Just visualize it and fall asleep. The one thing to carry is that you should go on imagining and let sleep come, so that the imagination enters into sleep; they are overlapping.Don’t imagine any negative thing, because if people who have an imaginative capacity imagine negative things, they start happening. If you think that you are going to get ill, you will get ill. If you think that somebody is going to be rude to you, he will be. Your very imagination will create the situation.So if a negative idea comes, immediately change it to a positive thought. Say no to it. Drop it immediately; throw it away.Within a week you will start feeling that you are becoming very happy — for no reason at all.

(The Passion for the Impossible)

~OSHO ~Quotes

"The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it’s not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of another person–without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other. They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other." ~ ~    

 "My suggestion is that whenever you have to choose, always choose the unknown, because the known you have already lived. Never miss the unknown. Always choose the unknown and go headlong. Even if you suffer, it is worth it — it always pays. Risk everything known for the unknown, and you will always be in an ecstatic state. You will always be a gainer, because the unknown has hidden treasures only for those who can drop the known." 

Quote a day

It is sweet to dance to violins
When Love and Life are fair:
To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes
Is delicate and rare:
But it is not sweet with nimble feet
To dance upon the air!
~The Ballad of Reading Gaol~

Quotes a Day

Every friendship travels at sometime through the black valley of despair. This tests every aspect of your affection. You lose the attraction and the magic. Your sense of each other darkens and your presence is sore. If you can come through this time, it can purify with your love, and falsity and need will fall away. It will bring you onto new ground where affection can grow again.

In a certain sense, to gaze into the face of another is to gaze into the depth and entirety of his life.

Unfinished....poem

Unfinished Poem I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding......
~ John O'Donohue ~

~John O'Donohue~

You have traveled too fast over false ground; Now your soul has come to take you back. Take refuge in your senses, open up To all the small miracles you rushed through. Become inclined to watch the way of rain When it falls slow and free. Imitate the habit of twilight, Taking time to open the well of color That fostered the brightness of day. Draw alongside the silence of stone Until its calmness can claim you.

"A Blessing of Solitude"by~John O’Donohue~

May you recognize in your life, the presence, power and light of your soul.
May you realize that you are never alone,
That your soul in its brightness and belonging
connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.
May you have respect for your own individuality and difference.
May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique,
that you have a special destiny here,
That behind the facade of your life
there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening.
May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride,
and expectation with which God sees you in every moment.
John O’Donohue (1956-2008)
(from Anam Cara)

~Love After Love~by Derek Walcott

Love After Love
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

To Take A Step Without Feet. by Rumi

To Take a Step Without Feet
This is Love: to fly toward a secret sky,
To cause a hundred veils to fall each moment.
First, to let go of life.
In the end, to take a step without feet;
to regard this world as invisible,
and to disregard what appears to the self.
Heart, I said, what a gift it has been
to enter this circle of lovers,
to see beyond seeing itself,
to reach and feel within the breast.
My soul, where does this breathing arise?
How does this beating heart exist?
Bird of the soul, speak in your own words,
and I will understand.
The heart replied: I was in the workplace
the day this house of water and clay was fired.
I was already fleeing that created house,
even as it was being created.
When I could no longer resist, I was dragged down,
and my features were molded from a handful of earth.

 

The Beloved is all; the lover just a veil.

The Beloved is living; the lover a dead thing.

If Love withholds its strengthening care,

the lover is left like a bird without wings.

Purdah By~Sylvia Plath~

Jade --
Stone of the side,
The antagonized
Side of green Adam, I
Smile, cross-legged,
Enigmatical,
Shifting my clarities.
So valuable!
How the sun polishes this shoulder!
And should
The moon, my
Indefatigable cousin
Rise, with her cancerous pallors,
Dragging trees --
Little bushy polyps,
Little nets,
My visibilities hide.
I gleam like a mirror.
At this facet the bridegroom arrives
Lord of the mirrors!
It is himself he guides
In among these silk
Screens, these rustling appurtenances.
I breathe, and the mouth
Veil stirs its curtain
My eye
Veil is
A concatenation of rainbows.
I am his.
Even in his
Absence, I
Revolve in my
Sheath of impossibles,
Priceless and quiet
Among these parrakeets, macaws!
O chatterers
Attendants of the eyelash!
I shall unloose
One feather, like the peacock.
Attendants of the lip!
I shall unloose
One note
Shattering
The chandelier
Of air that all day flies
Its crystals
A million ignorants.
Attendants!
Attendants!
And at his next step
I shall unloose
I shall unloose --
From the small jeweled
Doll he guards like a heart --
The lioness,
The shriek in the bath,
The cloak of holes.
~Sylvia Plath~

Morning Song By ~Sylvia Plath~(1932-1963)

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.
Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety.  We stand round blankly as walls.
I'm no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind's hand.
All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses.  I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.
One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat's.  The window square
Whitens and swallows its dull stars.  And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.

Shams Tabrizi....On...love

A parable by Osho

One day the Lord Vishnu was sitting in a deep cave within a far mountain meditating with his disciple. Upon the completion of the meditation the disciple was so moved that he prostrated himself at Vishnu’s feet and begged to be able to perform some service for his Lord in gratitude. Vishnu smiled and shook his head, ”It will be most difficult for you to repay me in actions for what I have just given you freely.”

”Please Lord,” the disciple said, ”allow me the grace of serving you.”

”Very well,” Vishnu relented, ”I would like a nice cool cup of water.” ”At once Lord,” the disciple said, and he ran down the mountain singing in joy.

After a while he came to a small house at the edge of a beautiful valley and knocked at the door. ”May I please have a cool cup of water for my Master,” he called. ”We are wandering sannyasins and have no home on this earth.”

A wondrous maiden answered his call, and looked at him with undisguised adoration. ”Ah,” she whispered, ”you must serve that holy saint upon the far mountain. Please, Good sir, enter my house and bestow your blessing therein.”

”Forgive my rudeness,” he answered, ”but I am in haste. I must return to my Master with his water immediately.”

”Surely, just your blessing won’t upset him. After all he is a great holy man, and as his disciple you are obligated to help those of us who are less fortunate. Please,” she repeated, ”just your blessing for my humble house. It is such an honor to have you here and to be enabled to serve the Lord through you.”

So the story goes, he relented, and entered the house and blessed all therein. And then it was time for dinner, and he was persuaded to stay and further the blessing by partaking of her food (thereby making it also holy), and since it was so late – and so far back to the mountain, and he might slip in the dark and spill the water – he was persuaded to sleep there that night and get an early start in the morning. But in the morning, the cows were in pain because there was no one to help her milk them, and if he could just help her this once (after all, cows are sacred to the Lord Krishna, and should not be in pain) it would be so wondrous.

And days became weeks, and still he remained. They were married, and had numerous children. He worked the land well and brought forth good harvests. He purchased more land and put it under cultivation, and soon his neighbors looked to him for advice and help, and he gave it freely. His family prospered. Temples were built through his effort, schools and hospitals replaced the jungle, and the valley became a jewel upon the earth. Harmony prevailed where only wilderness had been, and many flocked to the valley as news of its prosperity and peace spread throughout the land.

There was no poverty or disease there, and all men sang their praises to God as they worked. He watched his children grow and have their own children, and it was good. One day as an old man, as he stood upon a low hill facing the valley, he thought of all that had transpired since he had arrived: farms and happy prosperity as far as the eye could see. And he was pleased. Suddenly there was a great tidal wave, and as he watched, it flooded the whole valley, and in an instant all was gone. Wife, children, farms, schools, neighbors – all gone.

He stared, bewildered, at the holocaust that spread before him. And then he saw riding upon the face of the waters his Master, Vishnu, who looked at him and smiled sadly, and said, ”I’m still waiting for my water!”

This is the story of man. This is what has happened to everybody. We have completely forgotten why we are here, why we came in the first place, what to learn, what to earn, what to know, who we are and from whence and to where, what is our source and the cause of our journey into life, into body, in the world, and what we have attained up to now. And if a tidal wave comes – and it is going to come, it always comes; its name is death – all will be gone: children, family, name, fame, money, power, prestige.

All will be gone in a single moment and you will be left alone, utterly alone. All that you had done will be undone by the tidal wave. All that you had worked for will prove nothing but a dream, and your hands and your heart will be empty. And you will have to face the Lord, you will have to face existence. And the existence has been waiting for you; long, long it has been waiting for you to bring something for which you had been sent in the first place. But you have fallen asleep, and you are dreaming a thousand and one dreams. All that you have been doing up to now is nothing but a dream, because death comes and all is washed away.

【Source: “The Secret of Secrets, Volume 2” – Osho】

Am i in love ¿

Am I in love? --yes, since I am waiting. The other one never waits. Sometimes I want to play the part of the one who doesn't wait; I try to busy myself elsewhere, to arrive late; but I always lose at this game. Whatever I do, I find myself there, with nothing to do, punctual, even ahead of time. The lover's fatal identity is precisely this: I am the one who waits.
Roland Barthes, A Lover's Discourse: Fragments

Lines i loved

Despair and stress come from the heart. But what is the source of that inner pain which arises solely from within? When we feel empty, unfulfilled, or realize the meaning of something and how it may affect us or those we love, then pain and stress can arise. Pain is our reminder, however, that we have something to change, either within ourselves, or in the world around us. To ignore the message of pain is to invite nothing but more of the same. Rumi advised this:Pain comes from examining ourselves from within; pain brings us out of the veil of self-conceit. Unless a mother is overwhelmed in pain, how can the child be born? This trust is in the heart, and the heart is full of advice just like a midwife. The midwife may say that the woman has no pain, but pain is a prerequisite, for pain makes a way for the child to be born. The one who has no pain is a villain, for to be without pain is to say, "I am God."
Thus, pain is a teacher. In every aspect of life, if something causes us pain, we must address the root of it. Until we do, our heart will be unsettled and our peace of mind will be disturbed. When the hand touches a hot pan on the stove, would you expect the person to ignore the pain? Of course not! You would think, and hope, she would take action immediately to remove what's hurting her. So what's your excuse? Isn't life too short to spend one moment of it in mental anguish? Pain is providing a wake-up call to take action. Thus, even pain is an expression of love, for it makes you see things more clearly and motivates you to rise up and improve your situation.

~

A share from a friend on whatsapp

Photo courtesy G+

Excerpt from Elif Shafaks novel ~The Forty Rules of Love~

Shams murmured, as if talking to himself, “The Qur’an is like a shy bride. She’ll open her veil only if she sees that the onlooker is soft and compassionate at heart.” Then he squared his shoulders and asked, “Which verse is it?”
“Al-Nisa,” I said. “There are some parts in it where men are said to be superior to women. It even says men can beat their wives…”
“Is that so?” Shams asked with an exaggerated interest that I couldn’t be sure whether he was serious or teasing me. After a momentary silence, he broke into a soft smile and out of memory recited the verse.
“Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah had guarded; and (as to) those whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them, surely Allah is High, Great.”
When he finished, Shams closed his eyes and recited the same verse, this time in a different translation.
“Men are the support of women as God gives some more means than others, and because they spend of their wealth (to provide for them). So women who are virtuous are obedient to God and guard the hidden as God has guarded it. As for women who feel averse, talk to them suasively; then leave them alone in bed (without molesting them) and go to bed with them (when they are willing). If they open out to you, do not seek an excuse for blaming them. Surely God is sublime and great.”
“Do you see any difference between the two?” Shams asked.
“Yes I do,” I said. “There whole texture is different. The former sounds if it gives consent for married men to beat their wives, whereas the latter advises them to simply walk away. I think that is a big difference. Why is that?”
“Why is that? Why is that?” Shams echoed several times, as if enjoying the question. “Tell me something, Kimya. Have you ever gone swimming in a river?”
I nodded as a childhood memory returned to me. The cold, thirst quenching streams of the Taurus Mountains crossed my mind. Of the younger girl who had spent many happy afternoons in those streams with her sister and her friends, there was now a little left behind. I turned my face away and I didn’t want Shams to see the tears in my eyes.
“When you look at a river from a distance, Kimya, you might think there is only one watercourse. But if you dive into the water, you’ll realize there is more than one river. The river conceals various currents, all of them flowing harmony and yet completely separate from one another.”
Upon saying that, Shams of Tabriz approached me and chin between his two fingers, forcing me to look in his dark soulful eyes. My heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t even breathe.
“The Qur’an is a gushing river,” he said. “Those who look at it from a distance see only one river. But for those swimming in it, there are four currents. Like different types of fish, some of us swim closer to the surface while some in deep waters below.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” I said, although I was beginning to.
“Those who like to swim close to the surface are content with the outer meaning of the Qur’an. Many people are like that. They take verse too literally. No wonder when they read a verse like the Nisa, they arrive at the conclusion that men are held superior to women. Because that is exactly what they want to see.”
“How about the other currents?” I asked.
Shams sighed softly, and I couldn’t help noticing his mouth, as mysterious and inviting as a secret garden.

“There are three more currents, the second one is deeper than the first, but still close to the surface, as your awareness expands, so does your grasp for the Qur’an. But for that to happen you need to take the plunge.”
Listening to him, I felt both empty and fulfilled at the same time.
“What happens when you take the plunge?” I asked cautiously.
“The third undercurrent is esoteric, batini, reading. If you read the Nisa with your inner eye open, you’ll see that verse is not about women and men but about womanhood and manhood. And each and every one of us, including you and me, has both femininity and masculinity in us, in varying degrees and shades. Only when we learn to embrace both can we attain harmonious Oneness.”
“Are you telling me that I have manliness inside me?”
“Oh, yes, definitely, and I have a female side, too.”
I couldn’t help chuckle. And Rumi? How about him?”
Shams smiled fleetingly. “Every man has a degree of womanliness inside.”
“Even the ones who are manly men?”
“Especially those, my dear,” Shams said, garnishing his words with a wink and dropping his voice to a whisper, as If sharing a secret.