As Long As You Don’t…

Peace, one and all…

As long as you don’t feel pain, you’ll never reach the remedy.
As long as you don’t give up your life, you’ll never reach union with the Beloved.
As long as you don’t go into the fire, like Abraham the Friend of God,
You’ll never reach the Fountain of Life, like Khizr
Mevlana, Quatrain 1721

Never Giving Up The Flame

Peace, one and all…

Happy is the heart that blames none and
complains not.
Like the candle, it burns, melting to the last drop,
never giving up the flame.
(Abu Sa`id ibn Abi al-Khayr)

Omid Safi: God’s mirror, Mawlana’s mirror: Shams and Mawlana as Mirrors

Peace, one and all…

A lecture on Hz. Shams-i Tabriz by Omid Safi

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

So Drive Forth Your Little Donkey

Peace, one and all…

Childhood has gone and youth has faded from the young.
The day of old age has come, so fly up from this world.
The agreement for every guest is three days of hospitality.
Sir, three days have elapsed, so drive forth your little donkey.
Mevlana, Quatrain 1801

Envious of Your Dust

Peace, one and all…

You are nothing, but your ‘nothing’ is better than existence.
You are drowned in loss, but your ‘loss’ is all gain.
You say, ‘There is nothing in my possession except dust’.
But all the heavens are envious of your ’dust’.
Mevlana, Quatrain 1814

Mooji: Duality Is Not A Mistake

Peace, one and all…

I really enjoyed watching this short video, in which Mooji responds to a seeker’s question about duality.  I found it powerful and instructive.  May it be of benefit to all who pass by.

Monday Night Qawwali

Peace, one and all…

Or A Bowl You Did Not Bless…

Peace, one and all…

They say the jackal and the mole
Drink from the selfsame stream
Where the lion comes to drink.

And they say the eagle and the vulture
Dig their beaks into the same carcass,
And are at peace, one with the other,
In the presence of the dead thing.

O love, whose lordly hand Has bridled my desires,
And raised my hunger and my thirst
To dignity and pride,
Let not the strong in me and the constant
Eat the bread or drink the wine
That tempt my weaker self.
Let me rather starve,
And let my heart parch with thirst,
And let me die and perish,
Ere I stretch my hand
To a cup you did not fill,
Or a bowl you did not bless.

Khalil Gibran, The Forerunner

Love is Saying

Peace, one and all…

Love is saying, ‘Anyone who offers up his life
Will receive more: a hundred and a thousand lives in exchange.
Notice what things Love whispers in your ear,
So that it may pull your ear and draw you to itself.
Mevlana, Quatrain 1810

Some Day…

Peace, one and all…

Some day the heart will bring you to the Seizer of Hearts,
And some day the soul will bring you to the Beloved of Souls.
Don’t give up your grasp on the hem of the robe of pain,
For one day that pain will bring you to the Remedy!
Mevlana, Quatrain 1729

William Chittick: What is Mysticism & Sufism?

Peace, one and all…

A fascinating interview with Professor William Chittick

The Entire Creation is Filled with this Melody

Peace, one and all…

Though the entire creation is filled with this melody,
the unawake can hear it not.
Glory, glory, glory to the Musician to whose tune
every ecstatic particle in creation dances accordingly.

The lyre and the lute are declaring in adoration,
‘You are the Cause, Beloved. You are Perfection’.
The lover is drowned in this boundless Ocean.
The clever preacher vies for a place on the shore of delusion.

Love’s Creator wears no manifest face,
yet on every face nothing but That is manifest.
In Leily’s garb love appears to Majnoon,
steals his patience and brings him sweet doom.

In truth, love is always loving Herself.
Leily and Majnoon are but stage names.
Jami saw the Cup Bearer’s face reflected in the goblet once
and like the pitcher, has not stopped bowing to the goblet since.
(Jami, Ghazal)

Sh. Camille Helminski: Being a Person of Paradise – Reflections on the Teachings of Shams of Tabriz

Peace, one and all…

I wanted to share a lecture on Hazret Shams-i Tabriz, by Shaykha Camille Helminski.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Dr Omid Safi: How to Read Rumi: The GPS of Divine Secrets

Peace, one and all…

A wonderful lecture on Mevlana by Omid Safi.

 

You are the Moment

Peace, one and all…

You are the moment, within every moment,
and the Face behind every face.
Wherever we wander, we find You waiting,
and whenever we are still,
we find You at the quiet centre of all.
Beloved, these moments of ours give birth
to something sweet in the soul,
like a dawn-flower slowly opening,
or our first breath of air
on a night of love.

Abdur Rahman, 11th March 2012

All the Cups are Golden

Peace, one and all…

Why should we keep ourselves from such Grace?
Since we are the ‘handiwork of God’ let us be in the presence of the Maker.
In the Kitchen of Heaven all the cups are golden;
God forbid that we should be satisfied with stale water
Mevlana, Quatrain 1340

Love Survives

Peace, one and all…

There is an old and venerable tradition of re-interpreting songs and poetry in Sufi thought.  For the past 1,000 years (at least) Sufis have used ‘popular music’ to point to the Truth beyond words.  Personally, I find this one of the most profound elements of Sufism – the idea that meaning exists within all things, and that through contemplation, these meanings can be revealed and explored.

I love all sorts of music, for all sorts of reasons, and I particularly love Michael Jackson’s song Rock With You.  It has a mellow, easy feel and some beautiful harmonies.  The lyrics are also beautiful.  My favourite line being this one:

And when the groove is dead and gone,
You know that love survives

There is a deep truth hidden within this.  When the groove, the beating heart of our lives, has gone and we leave this world, love alone survives – in the hearts of our loved ones, and in the very fabric of the universe itself.  Love survives, and gathers us all into Its bosom.  And, when the song of this life is over, then another song entirely shall begin….and who (Hu) knows what songs we shall sing then?

Ask olsun.

May all that you do this day be blessed.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Resentment is a Poison

Peace, one and all…

Resentment is a poison,
and You, Beloved, are the only cure.
How strange that You should hide
Your cure within the poison,
and health within sickness.
How wondrous it is that
all that comes forth from You is
a mercy within a mercy within a mercy!
Beloved!  You had me with Your first glance!