Knowing

Throw away all you know

Throw away all you don't know

Then and only then 

One star shines bright.

Zen Poetry

Be Comfortable

Too lazy to be ambitious,

I let the world take care of itself.

Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;

a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.

Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?

Listening to the night rain on my roof,

I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

Zen Poetry

Everything is sacred

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 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 compute the impossibility

That there is anything

But Grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is sacred.

Hafiz

Awakening

What happens when your soul

Begins to awaken

Your eyes

And your heart

And the cells of your body

To the great Journey of Love?

First there is wonderful laughter

And probably precious tears

And a hundred sweet promises

And those heroic vows

No one can ever keep.

But still God is delighted and amused

You once tried to be a saint.

 

What happens when your soul

Begins to awake in this world

 

To our deep need to love

And serve the Friend?

O the Beloved

Will send you

One of His wonderful, wild companions ~

Like Hafiz.

Hafiz

Please Retire

You Don't Have to Act Crazy Anymore -

We all know you were good at that.

Now retire, my dear,

From all that hard work you do

Of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart.

Look in a clear mountain mirror -

See the Beautiful Ancient Warrior

And the Divine elements

You always carry inside

That infused this Universe with sacred Life

So long ago

And join you Eternally

With all Existence - with God!

Hafiz

One God,One Truth

Would you think it odd if Hafiz said,

"I am in love with every church 

And mosque 

And temple 

And any kind of shrine

 

Because I know it is there 

That people say the different names 

Of the One God."

 

Would you tell your friends 

I was a bit strange if I admitted

 

I am indeed in love with every mind 

And heart and body.

 

O I am sincerely 

Plumb crazy 

About your every thought and yearning 

And limb

 

Because, my dear, 

I know 

That it is through these

That you search for Him

Hafiz

Laughing at the word two

Only That Illumined One 

Who keeps,

Seducing the formless into form

Had the charm to win my Heart. 

Only a Perfect One

Who is always 

Laughing at the word Two 

Can make you know Of Love 

                    Hafiz

Tranquility

All day I think about it, then at night I say it.

Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?

I have no idea.

My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that,

and I intend to end up there.

This drunkenness began in some other tavern.

When I get back around to that place,

I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile,

I'm like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.

The day is coming when I fly off,

but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?

Who says words with my mouth?

Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul? 

I cannot stop asking.

If I could taste one sip of an answer,

I could break out of this prison for drunks.

I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way.

Whoever brought me here, will have to take me home.

This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say.

I don't plan it.

When I'm outside the saying of it,

I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.

Jalaluddin Rumi

Who Am I?

The time has come

to break all my promises

tear apart all chains

and cast away all advice

disassemble the heavens

link by link

and break at once

all lovers' ties

with the sword of death

put cotton inside

both my ears

and close them to

all words of wisdom

crash the door and

enter the chamber

where all sweet

things are hidden

how long can i

beg and bargain

for the things of this world

while love is waiting

how long before

i can rise beyond

how i am and

what i am

(Ghazal 1591)

i don't know

if i am

nonexistence

while i exist

but i know for sure

when i am

i am not

but

when i am not

then i am

(Ghazal 1419)

Jalaluddin Rumi

Melt In Love

The Lovers

will drink wine night and day.

They will drink until they can 

tear away the veils of intellect and

melt away the layers of shame and modesty.

When in Love, 

body, mind, heart and soul don't even exist.

Become this, 

fall in Love, 

and you will not be separated again.

Jalaluddin Rumi

Where Is The Beloved?

Lovers share a sacred decree –

to seek the Beloved.

They roll head over heels,

rushing toward the Beautiful One

like a torrent of water.

In truth, everyone is a shadow of the Beloved –

Our seeking is His seeking,

Our words are His words.

At times we flow toward the Beloved

like a dancing stream.

At times we are still water

held in His pitcher.

At times we boil in a pot

turning to vapor –

that is the job of the Beloved.

He breathes into my ear

until my soul

takes on His fragrance.

He is the soul of my soul –

How can I escape?

But why would any soul in this world

want to escape from the Beloved?

He will melt your pride

making you thin as a strand of hair,

Yet do not trade, even for both worlds,

One strand of His hair.

We search for Him here and there

while looking right at Him.

Sitting by His side we ask,

"O Beloved, where is the Beloved?"

Enough with such questions! –

Let silence take you to the core of life.

All your talk is worthless

When compared to one whisper

of the Beloved.

Jalaluddin Rumi

Be Patient

My dear friend
never lose hope
when the Beloved
sends you away.

If you're abandoned
if you're left hopeless
tomorrow for sure
you'll be called again.

If the door is shut
right in your face
keep waiting with patience
don't leave right away.

Seeing your patience
your love will soon
summon you with grace
raise you like a champion.

And if all the roads
end up in dead ends
you'll be shown the secret paths
no one will comprehend.

The beloved I know
will give with no qualms
to a puny ant
the kingdom of Solomon.

My heart has journeyed
many times around the world
but has never found
and will never find
such a Beloved again.

Ah I better keep silence
I know this endless love
will surely arrive
for you and you and you.

Jalaluddin Rumi

Love Transcend.

Look at Love

how it tangles

with the one fallen in love

look at spirit

how it fuses with earth

giving it new life

why are you so busy

with this or that or good or bad

pay attention to how things blend

why talk about all

the known and the unknown

see how unknown merges into the known

why think separately

of this life and the next

when one is born from the last

look at your heart and tongue

one feels but deaf and dumb

the other speaks in words and signs

look at water and fire

earth and wind

enemies and friends all at once

the wolf and the lamb

the lion and the deer

far away yet together

look at the unity of this

spring and winter

manifested in the equinox

you too must mingle my friends

since the earth and the sky

are mingled just for you and me

be like sugarcane

sweet yet silent

don't get mixed up with bitter words

my beloved grows

right out of my own heart

how much more union can there be

Jalaluddin Rumi

About Myself

Only you

I choose among the entire world.

Is it fair of you

letting me be unhappy?

My heart is a pen in your hand.

It is all up to you

to write me happy or sad.

I see only what you reveal 

and live as you say.

All my feelings have the color

you desire to paint.

From the beginning to the end,

no one but you.

Please make my future 

better than the past.

When you hide I change

to a Godless person,

and when you appear,

I find my faith.

Don't expect to find

any more in me 

than what you give.

Don't search for 

hidden pockets because

I've shown you that

all I have is all you gave.

Jalaluddin Rumi

Attitude

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.

Maya Angelou

Yes and no are very powerful words. Mean them when you say them. Respect them when you hear them.

Michael Josephson

Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

Saint Francis of Assisi

It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary."

Sir Winston Churchill

Religion

Common men talk bagfuls of religion, but act not a grain of it, while the wise man speaks little, but his whole life is a religion acted out.

Sri.Ramakrishna.Paramhamsa

Conquering Anger

A man once came and spat on Buddha, on his face. Of course his disciples were enraged. His closest disciple, Ananda, said to him, “This is too much!” He was red-hot with anger. He said to Buddha, “Just give me permission so that I can show this man what he has done.”

Buddha wiped his face and said to the man, “Thank you, sir. You created a context in which I could see whether I can still be angry or not. And I am not, and I am tremendously happy. And also you created a context for Ananda: now he can see that he can still be angry. Many thanks, we are so grateful! Once in a while, please, you are invited to come. Whenever you have the urge to spit on somebody, you can come to us.”

It was such a shock to the man, he could not believe his ears, what was happening. He had come expecting that he would anger Buddha. He had failed. The whole night he could not sleep, he tossed and turned and could not sleep. Continuously the idea haunted him — his spitting on the Buddha, one of the most insulting things, and Buddha remaining as calm and quiet as he had been before, as if nothing had happened, wiping his face and saying to him, “Thank you, sir. And whenever you have this desire to spit on somebody, please come to us.”

He remembered it again and again. That face, that calm and quiet face, those compassionate eyes. And when he had said thank you, it had not been just a formality, he was really grateful. His whole being was saying that he was grateful, his whole atmosphere was grateful. Just as he could see that Ananda was red-hot with anger, Buddha was so cool, so loving, so compassionate. He could not forgive himself now, what had he done? Spitting on that man — a man like Buddha!

Early the next morning he rushed back, fell down at the feet of Buddha, and said, “Forgive me, sir. I could not sleep the whole night.” Buddha said, “Forget all about it. There is no need to ask forgiveness for something which has already passed. So much water has gone down the Ganges.” Buddha was sitting on the bank of the Ganges under a tree. He showed the man, “Look, each moment so much water is flowing down! Twenty-four hours have passed — why are you carrying it, something which is no longer existential? Forget all about it.” And I cannot forgive you, because in the first place I was not angry with you. If I had been angry, I could have forgiven you. If you really need forgiveness, ask Ananda. Fall at his feet — he will enjoy it!”

Who is a Devotee?

"advesta sarva-bhutanam

maitrah karuna eva ca

nirmamo nirahankarah

sama-duhkha-sukhah ksami

santustah satatam yogi

yatatma drdha-niscayah

mayy arpita-mano-buddhir

yo mad-bhaktah sa me priyah"

Meaning: One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me — such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.

Bhagavad-gita 

Essence of Religion

Each soul is potentially divine.

The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.

Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy — by one, or more, or all of these — and be free.

This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.

Swami Vivekananda