Hafiz speaks

Extracts from the pen of Hafiz, the Persian:

You're neither before my eye, nor hidden from view
You don't remember me, but you won't leave my memory.


The face of the Beloved wears neither a veil nor covering
To glimpse it for yourself, just let the dust of the road settle.


The men of reason may be the pointer of the compass of Existence,
But Love knows that in our circle, they are apt to lose their bearings.


Before time was, a ray of your Beauty was breathed into existence
Love woke up; and set the universe alight.


Why, in the tavern of the fire-worshippers, am I held in such esteem?
For what is in my heart: a flame that cannot be extinguished.


Begging at the door of the wine tavern is a marvellous elixir
If you perform this work, you may turn dust into gold.


Do not find fault with the language of the People of the Heart
You, my friend, are no linguist: and the fault lies there.


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A Kiss - The Absolute

"I'm not very strong on faith. I'm much more interested in experience than belief. My experience indicates without doubt that there is the embrace of the absolute. You've had it. When you embrace a woman and kiss her lips you forget your name. That's the experience of the absolute."

Leonard Cohen

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Making Agreements With Yourself

According to the Toltec wisdom of Mexican shaman Don Miguel Ruiz:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Words.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally.

3. Don't Make Assumptions.

4. Always Do Your Best.

1. Depending upon how it is used, the word can set you free, or it can enslave you even more than you know. All the magic you possess is based on your word. Your word is pure magic, and misuse of your word is black magic.
2. If someone is not treating you with love and respect, it is a gift if they walk away from you. If that person doesn't walk away, you will surely endure many years of suffering with him or her...You will only need to trust yourself to make responsible choices. You are never responsible for the actions of others; you are only responsible for you.
3. We make all sorts of assumptions because we do not have the courage to ask questions.
4. There is no time to miss anyone or anything because you are alive. Not enjoying what is happening right now is living in the past and only being half alive. This leads to self-pity, suffering, and tears.

This tells us we have a choice - a choice in how we perceive and dream our world. We all must make this choice to establish how our destiny will play out.

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The Dream of the Planet

What are we dreaming?

• In the dream of the planet it is normal for humans to suffer, to live in fear, and to create emotional dramas. The outside dream is not a pleasant dream...The personal dream of humans will vary, but globally it is mostly a nightmare...It may exist at different levels in different countries around the world, but fear is controlling the outside dream.

• That is why humans resist life. To be alive is the biggest fear humans have. Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive - the risk to be alive and express what we really are.

Extracts from The Four Agreements


What do you dream?

Wise Words 2

Some more sayings of Idries Shah:

KNOWLEDGE AND POWER: ‘Knowledge is power, they say. But if only power were knowledge, that would be something worth thinking about’

WORDS AND THOUGHT: ‘Words are an aspect of the attempted communication of thought. They are not thought. When we see words described as ‘thoughts’, we should make sure that we know this distinction’

SAYING A THING: ‘It is not important to have said a thing first, or best – or even most interestingly. What is important is to say it on the right occasion’

COMMUNICATION: ‘For a long time now people have been claiming that what is wrong with society is that there is a failure of communication. Many of these have had nothing to communicate other than the assertion that they cannot communicate. They have communicated this effectively enough’

DROWNING: ‘To drown in treacle is just as unpleasant as to drown in mud. People today are in danger of drowning in information; but, because they have been taught that information is useful, they are more willing to drown than they need be. If they could handle information, they would not have to drown at all’

Wise Words 1

Here are some sayings of Idries Shah:

TRUTH: ‘From time to time ponder whether you are unconsciously saying: ‘Truth is what I happen to be thinking at this moment’

COMMON KNOWLEDGE: ‘The more you look at ‘common knowledge’, the more you realise that it is more likely to be common than it is to be knowledge. No real knowledge is common’

SOCIETY: ‘You say that this society will come to an end, because societies always have done so. I wonder whether they have ended because they were not really societies at all’

BOOKS AND DONKEYS: ‘Anyone can see that an ass laden with books remains a donkey. A human being laden with the undigested results of a tussle with thoughts and books, however, still passes for wise’

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: ‘One of the big differences between questions and answers is that, a question may be asked at almost any time and place, but its answer may come at a special time and place’

We are but dust, unless...

i) Above all, we may acknowledge, for once and for all, that we are but dust, unless we are living in Love. This helps one to deal with sorrows that inevitably visit our lives. We are not supposed to be in control, or perfect, or any particular thing, but just those who continue to love, through whatever confusion there is. Sheer persistence in faith, regardless of the illusion, is the key to many blessings.

ii) Patience cannot be overvalued in the spiritual journey.

Words of Carla L. Rueckert

Thoughts of These Times

'The evolution of man is the evolution of consciousness and 'consciousness' cannot evolce unconsciously' G.I. Gurdjieff

'Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken' Frank Herbert

These times give us the opportunity to learn and grow: to re-assess life priorities: life; love; goals; self-evolution. Nothing can be achieved while in a state of sleep. We are the drivers of our own change. From changing ourselves we change how we see and act in the world - and this changes how the world and people act towards us and themselves.

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The Water Rat

This is my Chinese sign - The Water Rat:

This intuitive, adventurous rat likes to travel, but once it finds a safe haven, it will settle and won’t be shifted. The water RAT is creative, enjoys literature and is a good diplomat

Is this me??

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Illumination

- Where should I seek the illumination?

- Here

- And when will it take place?

- It is taking place right now

- Then, why don't I feel it?

- Because you don't look

- And to what should I pay attention?

- To nothing. Simply watch

- Watch what?

- Anything on which your eyes settle

- And should I watch in a special manner?

- No. It's enough if you watch normally

- But don't I always watch normally?

- No

- What the devil?

- Because to watch you must be here, and you are very seldom here.


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High Knowledge

ANIS was asked:

What is Sufism?

He said: 'Sufism is that which succeeds in bringing to man the High Knowledge'

But if I apply the traditional methods handed down by the Masters, is that not Sufism?

'It is not Sufism if it does not perform its function for you. A cloak is no longer a cloak if it does not keep a man warm.

So Sufism does change?

'People change and needs change. So what was Sufism once is Sufism no more. Sufism is the external face of internal knowledge, known as High Knowledge. The inner factor does not change. The whole work, therefore, is the High Knowledge, plus capacity, which produces method. What you are pleased to call Sufism is merely the record of past method.

Tis good the know the difference...

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Have the Courage...know what you truly want to become

We are where we are right now to self-realise:

Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

A brief excerpt from the Commencement address at Stanford University by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005 - go here for full speech.

Wisdom

SUFIAN said:

The wisdom which is invisible but which sustains is a hundred times better than the appearance of wisdom, for that has itself to be sustained

We are immersed in a matrix of signs, many of them invisible to us. And yet we expend so much energy investing in the appearances we sustain and are sustained by.

Rather than submitting to the stories that enforce our roles - should we not be dreaming into being our new stories, our inner goals?

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How Hungry Are You?

The Hungry Wolf

A skinny and hungry wolf, by chance met a well nourished dog. After the salutation, the wolf asked:

- You look so good, where do you come from? What do you eat to be of such a good spirit? I am stronger than you and I starve.

- You would have the same fortune - the dog responded simply - if you wanted to serve my master the way I do it.

- What services are these? - the wolf asked.

- To guard the door and at night defend the house against the thieves.

- Good! I'll do it. I bear rain and snow in the forests leading a miserable life. How much easier it would be to live under a roof and calmly satiate my hunger with abundant food!

- Allright - said the dog - come with me. While they walked, the wolf saw the bare neck of the dog, caused by the chain.

- Tell me, friend - it said - where does that come from?

- That's nothing.

- Please, please tell me.

- When I am too unquiet - the dog replied - they tie me during the day so that I sleep when there is light and I watch when the night arrives. When the twilight comes, I walk wherever I want. They bring the food to me without asking for it, the master gives me the bones from his own table, the servants give me the rests and the sauces which nobody wants anymore. This way, my belly fills up without having to work.

- But if you wish to leave and go wherever you want, do they allow you to do that?

- No, not at all - said the dog.

- Well then - said the wolf - enjoy your goods. I don't want to be king in exchange of my freedom.

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