Month: July 2013

Patience is a Virtue

Patience is a virtue

Yet Man is a creature of haste

His frantic movements are manifested

he does himself more harm than good

Such is the nature of free will

A blessing turned into a curse

Turn the curse back into a blessing

Use freedom to give up will

Sometimes the best form of action is non-action

Just as sometimes “silence is the most eloquent reply”

Does the Sun struggle against its setting?

Or the the river against its flow?

In due season, all things come to fruition

Just as in spring flowers begin to grow

You too have a nature

Follow it and become freedom itself

This is the state of abundance

For in truth, you are sought by that which you seek

As the Sage once said:

“When you chase the world, it will run from you and when you run from the world, it will chase you”

So surrender yourself completely

and experience the joy of meeting the patient in paradise

Be You the Rain

Be you the rain

which falleth on all

Without discrimination

As it embraces Earth

And in its essence

Sacrifices self

So that beauty may grow

Be you the rain

and shower your Love on all

perchance, they too, may grow

and if their soil is infertile

be it of no concern

for in the mind of rain

Thought of Earth does not exist

what is the alternative?

Be you an animal

That lashes out at all

Afraid to loose its life?

Crushing the garden

From fear and insecurity?

The rain fears not

Secure in identity and purpose

For none can change the essence of rain

So be you that rain

A blessing to the world

a catalyst for growth and beauty

Indiscriminately showering itself on all

We are all Actors

The world is a funny place

Sometimes all we can do is laugh

We are all actors putting on faces for the roles we play

At times we are parents and teachers

At others we are siblings and friends

These masks are necessary – do not throw them away

The danger lies in forgetting what lies beneath

Do not identify true self with false mask

But if you see the difference

and know who you truly are

Then face ‘negative’ situations

as an actor casted in Shakespearean plays

In detachment bring your character to life

Let your soul inspire your performance

and watch as the stress of the moment fades away

Realize this truth

and you will be well on your way

Don’t Judge

I stand at the pulpit watching

Their eyes beckon me to speak

My soul screams in silent anguish

For I cannot give them what they desire

These words have beginnings and ends

And no heart finds content in things that die

Even if woven into angelic melodies

At best speech serves to point the way

My thoughts lash out

Do you not see? Your whole being seeks experience

You cannot just listen – you must follow the way

My soul gently reproaches me

“Did you not sit where they sit now?”

I nod my head in agreement

“Do you save or does the One save?”

I bow my head in shame

“When they are ready they shall receive”

I understand now but there is more

“Don’t judge too quickly

There are many that you see but fail to perceive”

In a flash golden-white crowns appear above their heads

They are well on their way and much further along than I

For the space above my head is empty

Now I know how wrong it is to judge too quickly

The Guest House

Image

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Jelaluddin Rumi  (Trans. C. Barks)

A Secret in the Air

There is a secret here

A secret not so secret

For those who sit quietly

listening, without attempting to hear

A secret not so secret

For those who sit quietly

seeing, without attempting to look

And like the wind that carries it

The secret is refreshing

for it speaks of a cure

A special blessing from beyond

individually tailored

to suit your needs

And if you have not yet received it

then pray..and be still

For this cure is like the sun

Given to the world

So that it may shine down on all

Transcendent and Immanent Grace

God is transcendent…

His grace is forever falling

Open yourself up to the heavens

If you truly wish to receive

God is immanent…

His grace lies within you

Surrender the obstacles of thought and desire

and be transformed by the grace that is “I”

God is a concept referring to something beyond concepts. So I don’t believe in your concept of God or mine. But, alas, language is the medium with which we communicate so..

God is both transcendent and immanent. He is Truth and Justice as well as Love and Mercy. These so-callled contradictions are brought into Oneness in ‘the place’ beyond multiplicity and division. However, in this world, each religion seems to lay emphasis on one of (supposedly) two aspects. Maybe a particular religion does it to balance another one out? Maybe it is in accordance with the temperament of the place and people out of which the religion grew? It doesn’t really matter. The underlying religion sees it all as one.

The Flames of Love

Finished, yet the feelings continue

I allow myself to drown in the warmth

Consumed by the vibration of life

Love has taken over

emanating, it radiates from deep within my being

Come close to me oh hopeless one

Let these flames of love set you on fire

These flames of awareness.. illuminating impurities

These flames of purification.. burning evil to ash

These flames of love.. melting the world and its illusions away

Come close to me oh hopeless one

For there is a wick within all

Hoping, searching, and calling

To be set on fire

By these flames of love

The Reversal of Principles

I am amazed at the arrogance of the modern world. Scoffing at the eternal truths of the great traditions. What they perceived as fundamental differences was not that at all. It was simply different expressions of the same source. It was only a matter of language. Now we live in a space that has lost the sweet fragrance of the Divine. Replaced by materialism… It’s the reversal of eternal principles: Matter over spirit. Action over contemplation. Existence over essence. It seems that the world is a lost cause. Is there anything left to do but save the self?