Saturday, March 22, 2014

Hafiz - Now is the time




Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.

Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child's training wheels
To be laid aside

When you can finally live
With veracity
And love.

Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.

My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?

What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?

Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred

This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.

Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.




Rumi - Like this (narrated)





If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look, lift your face
and say,

Like this.
When someone mentions the gracefulness
of the nightsky, climb up on the roof
and dance and say,

Like this.
If anyone wants to know what "spirit" is,
or what "God’s fragrance" means,
lean your head toward him or her.
Keep your face there close.

Like this.
When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.

Like this.
If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.

Like this. Like this.
When someone asks what it means
to "die for love," point
here.

If someone asks how tall I am, frown
and measure with your fingers the space
between the creases on your forehead.

This tall.
The soul sometimes leaves the body, then returns.
When someone doesn’t believe that,
walk back into my house.

Like this.
When lovers moan,
they’re telling our story.

Like this.
I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.

Like this.
When someone asks what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.

Like this.
How did Joseph’s scent come to Jacob?
Huuuuu.
How did Jacob’s sight return?
Huuuu.
A little wind cleans the eyes.
Like this.
When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he’ll put just his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us

Like this.


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

St. Francis of Assisi - The Canticle of Brother Sun


The Canticle of Brother Sun

My Lord most high, all-powerful, all-good,
Celebration, light, and all sweet blessings are yours,
yours alone.
No man speaks
who can speak your Name.

Praise to you, my Lord, and to all beings of your creation!
Praise especially to brother sun,
who fills the day with light
-- through whom you shine!
Beautiful and bright, magnificent with splendor,
He shows us your Face.

Praise to my Lord for sister moon
and for the stars.
You have formed them in the firmament,
fine and rare and fair.
Praise to you, Lord, for brother wind,
for the air, for the clouds,
for fair days and every turn of weather
-- through which you feed the world.

Praise to my Lord for sister water,
precious and pure, who selflessly serves all.

Praise to my Lord for brother fire,
through whom you fill the dark with light.
Lovely is he in his delight, mighty and strong.

Praise to my Lord for our sister, mother earth,
who nourishes us and surrounds us
in a world ripe with fruit, pregnant
with grassy fields,
spangled with flowers.

Praise to my Lord for those seeking your love,
who discover within themselves forgiveness,
rejecting neither frailty nor sorrow.
Enduring in serenity, they are blessed,
For they shall be crowned by your hand, Most High.

Praise to my Lord for our sister death,
the body's death,
whom none avoid.
A great sadness for those who die having missed life's mark;
Yet blessed they whose way
is your most holy will --
Having died once, the second death
does them no ill.

Sing praises!
Offer holy blessings to my Lord!
In gratitude, selflessly offer yourself to him.

~ St. Francis of Assisi
tr. by Ivan M. Granger 



Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Yunus Emre - the Friend serves them all


That by which our hearts are held,
whole worlds love it too.
I can’t deny the truth -
many ways lead to the One.

Those whom the Beloved loves,
we must also love.
If someone is a friend to the Friend,
how can we afford not to be friends?

If you would be a lover,
befriend him who loves your Friend;
and if you cannot,
don’t call yourself a friend of mine.

Whomever you tend to despise,
hold dear instead.
Don’t belittle others, respect them.
This is where the path leads.

If your heart is filled with love,
your way is sacrifice.
Through sacrifice you will find your place
in the ranks of Love.

Hearts which truly love the Truth,
Truth will open a door wide.
Dismantle the house of selfishness.
Put away your self-regard.

High and low, enemy, neighbor,
the Friend serves them all.
Whoever wants to spread this word
must first go out of his home.

This counsel that Yunus gives
is like buried gold.
Those who love the Friend
find peace in both worlds.

 The Drop That Became the Sea Translated by Kabir Helminski & Refik Algan


Laozi - Secret of Life

Birth of Laozi

Being without passion,
behold the source!
Being with passion,
behold the flow!
The two are one -
born of the same root,
differently named when they appear.
Both may be called mystery -
going from mystery to deeper mystery,
enter the secret of Life!
 
 

Lalla - One event


Dying and giving birth go on
inside the one consciousness,
but most people misunderstand
the pure play of creative energy,
how inside that, those
are one event.

Naked Song Trans. Coleman Barks


Monday, March 17, 2014

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad



As long as there is duality, one sees the other, one hears
the other, one smells the other, one speaks to the other,
one thinks of the other, one knows the other; but when
for the illumined soul the all is dissolved in the Self, who
is there to be seen by whom, who is there to be smelt by
whom, who is there to be heard by whom, who is there to
be spoken to by whom, who is there to be thought of by
whom, who is there to be known by whom? Ah, Maitreyi,
my beloved, the Intelligence which reveals all by what
shall it be revealed? By whom shall the Knower be  known?
The Self is described as *not this, not that.*  It is incom-
prehensible, for it cannot be comprehended; undecaying
for it never decays; unattached, for it never attaches;
unbound, for it is never bound. By whom, O my beloved,
shall the Knower be known?

PDF Here