The Gift ....! by Rabindranath Tagore

I want to give you something, my Beloved,
for we are drifting in the stream of the world.
Our lives will be carried apart,
and our love forgotten.

But I am not so foolish as to hope that
I could buy your heart with my gifts.

Young is your life, your path long, and
you drink the love we bring you at one draught
and turn and run away from us.

You have your play and your playmates.
What harm is there if you have no time
or thought for us.

We, indeed, have leisure enough in old age
to count the days that are past,
to cherish in our hearts what our
hands have lost for ever.

The river runs swift with a song,
breaking through all barriers.
But the mountain stays and remembers,
and follows her with his love.

~ from 'The Crescent Moon' by Tagore

This love between you and me.............!

Hands cling to hands and eyes linger on eyes: thus
begins the record of our hearts.
It is the moonlight night of March; the sweet smell of henna
is in the air; my flute lies on the earth neglected and your garland of flowers
is unfinished.
This love between you and me is simple as a song.

Your veil of the saffron colour makes my eyes drunk.
The jasmine wreath that you wove me thrills to my heart like praise.
It is a game of giving and withholding, revealing and screening again; some
smiles and some little shyness, and some sweet useless struggles.
This love between you and me is simple as a song.

No mystery beyond the present; no striving for the impossible;
no shadow behind the charm; no groping in the depth of the dark.
This love between you and me is simple as a song.

We do not stray out of all words into the ever silent; we do not raise our
hands to the void for things beyond hope.
It is enough what we give and we get.
We have not crushed the joy to the utmost to wring from it the wine of pain.
This love between you and me is simple as a song.
~ Rabindranath Tagore

It is time for meto go...............

It is time for meto go, mother; I am going.

When in the paling darkness of the lonely dawn
you stretch your arms for your baby in the bed,
I shall say, "Baby is not there!"
- mother, I am going.

I shall become a delicate draught of air
and caress you; and I shall be ripples 
in the water when you bathe;
and kiss you and kiss you again.

In the gusty night when the rain patters on the leaves
you will hear my whisper in your bed,
and my laughter will flashwith the lightning
through the open window into your room.

If you lie awake, thinking of your baby till late into the night,
I shall sing to you form the stars, "Sleep, mother, sleep."

On the straying moonbeams I shall steal over your bed,
and lie upon your bosom while you sleep.

I shall become a dream, and through the little opening
of your eyelids I shall slip into the depths of your sleep;
and when you wake up and look round startled,
like a twinkling firefly I shall flit out into the darkness.

When, on the great festival of PUJA,
the neighbours' children come and play about the house,
I shall melt into the music of the flute
and throb in your heart all day.

Dear suntie will come with your PUJA presents and will ask,
"Where is our baby, sister? Mother you tell her softly,
"He is in the pupils of my eyes,
he is my body and my soul."

~ from 'The Crescent Moon' by Tagore

~ 

You are alive in my heart..............................by Rabia

O Beloved, Another Night is passing away, Another Day is rising --
Tell me that I have spent the Night well so I can be at peace,
Or that I have wasted it, so I can mourn for what is lost.

I swear that ever since the first day You brought me back to life,
The day You became my Friend,
I have not slept --
And even if You drive me from your door, I swear again that we will never be separated.
Because You are alive in my heart.



~ Rabia 

                                   

A hidden smile

I try to wreath all the morning, but the flowers slip and they drop out.
You sit there watching me in secret through the corner of your prying eyes.
Ask those eyes, darkly planning mischief, whose fault it was.

I try to sing a song, but in vain.
A hidden smile trembles on your lips; ask of it the reason of my failure.
Let your smiling lips say on oath
how my voice lost itself in silence like a drunken bee in the lotus

It is evening, and the time for the flowers to close their petals.
Give me leave to sit by your side,
and bid my lips to do the work that can be done in silence
and in the dim light of stars.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

The Fragile Vial.....! by Rumi

I need a mouth as wide as the sky
to say the nature of a True Person, language
as large as longing.

The fragile vial inside me often breaks.
No wonder I go mad and disappear for three days
every month with the moon.

For anyone in love with you,
it's always these invisible days.

I've lost the thread of the story I was telling.
My elephant roams his dreams of Hindustan again.
Narrative, poetics, destroyed, my body,
a dissolving, a return.

Friend, I've shrunk to a hair trying to say your story.
Would you tell mine?
I've made up so many love stories.
Now I feel fictional.
Tell me!
The truth is, you are speaking, not me.
I am Sinai, and you are Moses walking there.
This poetry is an echo of what you say.
A piece of land can't speak, or know anything!
Or of it can, only within limits.

The body is a device to calculate
the astronomy of the spirit.
Look through that astrolabe
and become oceanic.

Why this distracted talk?
It's not my fault I rave.
You did this.
Do you approve of my love-madness?

Say yes.
What language will you say it in, Arabic or Persian,
or what? Once again, I must be tied up.
Bring the curly ropes of your hair.

Now I remember the story.
A True Man stares at his old shoes
and sheepskin jacket. Every day he goes up
to his attic to look at his work-shoes and worn-out coat.
This is his wisdom, to remember the original clay
and not get drunk with ego and arrogance.

To visit those shoes and jacket
is praise.

The Absolute works with nothing.
The workshop, the materials
are what does not exist.

Try and be a sheet of paper with nothing on it.
Be a spot of ground where nothing is growing,
where something might be planted,
a seed, possibly, from the Absolute.

~ Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi translated by Coleman Barks

                               

You came suddenly.....! by Rumi

You came suddenly shook me from my sleep and vanished.

In my heart you rose like the moon

but as I glanced at you, you disappeared.

Having had a glimpse of Your garden,

 I have no more the patience to endure my existence.

One sip of Your intoxicating wine

has left me lovesick and full of longing.

Can a house stand when its foundations have been shaken?

On the path of love, there are many highs and lows

many unions and separations. 

Oh how endless seems to me the journey

to that wondrous place where my passion draws me.

~ Rumi

I Met One Traveling.....! by Rumi

In the evening between sleep and waking

I met one traveling. He was the light of consciousness.

His body was soul, his pure wisdom apparent

in his beautiful face.

He praises me for a while, then scolds.

You sit on the seven-sky throne, in prison.

The sign of Gemini has set a table for you,

yet you stick your head down a drainhole again.

Essence is not nourished with food and sleep.

Do no one any harm in this timefield

of short crops where what you sow comes up very quickly.

You try to accomplish things, to win,

to reach goals. This is not the true situation.

Put the whole world in ambition's stomach,

it will never be enough.

Assume you get everything you want.

Assume you have it now. What's the point?

The next moment you die.

Friend, the youth you have lived is ending.

You sleep a dreamless sleep

with no sense what morning you could wake inside.

~ Rumi

You..!

 What was in that bright candlelight

that took my heart and burned it so completely?

Come friend, come quickly

nothing could heal me but your sweetness

and this glorious love.

I remember a dawn when my heart

got tied in a lock of your hair.

My soul heard something from your soul

my heart drank from your spring

I drowned and the flood swept me.

~Rumi

Return to the root of the root of your own soul........! By Rumi

“For ages you have come and gone
courting this delusion.
For ages you have run from the pain
and forfeited the ecstasy.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Although you appear in earthly form
Your essence is pure Consciousness.
You are the fearless guardian
of Divine Light.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

When you lose all sense of self
the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.
Lose yourself completely,
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

You descended from the pure Word of God,
but you turned your sight
to the empty show of this world.
Alas, how can you be satisfied with so little?
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Why are you so enchanted by this world
when a mine of gold lies within you?
Open your eyes and come —
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

You were born from the rays of God’s Majesty
when the stars were in their perfect place.
How long will you suffer from the blows
of a nonexistent hand?
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

You are a ruby encased in granite.
How long will you deceive Us with this outer show?
O friend, We can see the truth in your eyes!
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

After one moment with that glorious Friend
you became loving, radiant, and ecstatic.
Your eyes were sweet and full of fire.
Come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

The King of the Tavern
has handed you an eternal cup,
And God in all His glory is pouring the wine.
So come! Drink!
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Soul of all souls, Life of all life – you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving – you are That.
The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head and feet
and you’ll already be there.
What else could you be? – you are That.”

 ~ Rumi

Bittersweet.....By Rumi

In my hallucination
I saw my beloved's flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel

I saw myself as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow

I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:

Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that

I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl

I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you

Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns

~ Rumi

The Breaking Wave of Love

Ah, once more he put a fire in me,
And once more this crazy heart
is craving the open plains.
This ocean of love breaks into another wave
And blood pours from my heart
in all directions.


Ah, one spark flew
and burned the house of my heart.
Smoke filled the sky.
The flames grew fierce in the wind.


The fire of the heart is not easily lit.
So don’t cry out: “O Lord, rescue me
from the burning flames!
Spare me from the army of thoughts
that is marching through my mind!”


O Heart of Pure Consciousness,
You are the ruler of all hearts.
After countless ages
you brought my soul
all it ever wished for.


The eyes of all people happy and sad,
are closed to the truth.
May their eyes be opened!
May they look upon God
and get drunk on His beauty.


May their hands reach toward the Truth.
May their ears hear the voice of the Beloved.
May the shadow of a Master
fall upon everyone who has devotion.


All the world praises you,
But where did this “you” come from?
All the universe is born of Love
But where did this Love come from?


O Beloved,
you are the owner of the land of life
the light of every heart;
Even the King of Love
knows no love

that is not yours.

~RUMI

Version by Jonathan Star
“A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi”
Bantam Books, 1992

Invitation, by Sri Aurobindo

With wind and the weather beating round me
Up to the hill and the moorland I go.
Who will come with me? Who will climb with me?
Wade through the brook and tramp through the snow?

Not in the petty circle of cities
Cramped by your doors and your walls I dwell;
Over me God is blue in the welkin,
Against me the wind and the storm rebel.

I sport with solitude here in my regions,
Of misadventure have made me a friend.
Who would live largely? Who would live freely?
Here to the wind-swept uplands ascend.

I am the Lord of tempest and mountain,
I am the Spirit of freedom and pride.
Stark must he be and a kinsman to danger
Who shares my kingdom and walks at my side.

~   Sri Aurobindo

I WISH..

This is my wish for you: 
comfort on difficult days,
smiles when sadness intrudes, 
rainbows to follow the clouds, 
laughter to kiss your lips, 
sunsets to warm your heart, 
hugs when spirits sag, 
beauty for your eyes to see, 
friendships to brighten your being, 
faith so that you can believe, 
confidence for when you doubt, 
courage to know yourself,
patience to accept the truth, 
love to complete your life

~ Anonymous

A Smile and A Gentleness

There is a smile and a gentleness
inside. When I learned the name

and address of that, I went to where
you sell perfume. I begged you not

to trouble me so with longing. Come
out and play! Flirt more naturally.

Teach me how to kiss. On the ground
a spread blanket, flame that's caught

and burning well, cumin seeds browning,
I am inside all of this with my soul.
~ Rumi

From Essential Rumi
by Coleman Barks

Face To Face

Day after day, O lord of my life,
shall I stand before thee face to face.
With folded hands, O lord of all worlds,
shall I stand before thee face to face.

Under thy great sky in solitude and silence,
with humble heart shall I stand before thee face to face.

In this laborious world of thine, tumultuous with toil
and with struggle, among hurrying crowds
shall I stand before thee face to face.

And when my work shall be done in this world,
O King of kings, alone and speechless
shall I stand before thee face to face. 

~ Rabindranath Tagore 

Endless Time....!

Time is endless in thy hands, my lord. There is none to count thy minutes. Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers. Thou knowest how to wait. Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower. We have no time to lose, and having no time we must scramble for a chance. We are too poor to be late. And thus it is that time goes by while I give it to every querulous man who claims it, and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last. At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut; but I find that yet there is time.  ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Time is endless in thy hands, my lord.
There is none to count thy minutes.

Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers.
Thou knowest how to wait.

Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.

We have no time to lose,
and having no time we must scramble for a chance.
We are too poor to be late.

And thus it is that time goes by
while I give it to every querulous man who claims it,
and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.

At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut;
but I find that yet there is time.

 ~ Rabindranath Tagore 

IF GOD INVITED YOU TO A PARTY ....! BY Hafiz

If God
Invited you to a party
And said,

"Everyone
In the ballroom tonight
Will be my special
Guest."

How would you then treat them
When you
arrived?

Indeed, indeed!

And Hafiz knows
There is no one is this world

Who
Is not upon
His Jeweled Dance
Floor.

~ HAFIZ

No Ruin is Empty of Treasure....! by Rumi

You may despair of finding a true friend of God;
but since the treasure does exist in this world,
consider no ruin empty of treasure.
Go to every dervish at random,
and when you find the sign of a true saint,
keep his company regularly.
If the inner eye has not been granted to you,
always think that treasure could be in anybody.

~ RUMI

Masnavi Bk2 (2153-2155)

The people of Saba....by Rumi

The people of Saba feel bored

with just the mention of prophecy.

They have no desire of any kind. Maybe some

idle curiosity about miracles, but that's it.

This over-richness is a subtle disease.

Those who have it are blind to what's wrong,

and deaf to anyone who points it out.

The city of Saba cannot be understood

from within itself, but there is a cure,

as individual medicine, not a social remedy.

Sit quietly and listen for a voice

that will say, Be more silent.

As that happens, your soul starts to revive.

Give up talking, and your positions of power.

Give up the excessive money.

Turn toward the teachers and the prophets

who do not live in Saba. They will help you

grow sweet again, and fragrant and wild and fresh,

and thankful for any small event.

~ RUMI

Come With Us...!

If you never searched for truth
come with us
and you will become a seeker.
If you were never a musician
come with us
and you will find your voice.
You may posses immense wealth
come with us
and you will become love’s beggar.
You may think yourself a master
come with us
and love will turn you into a slave.
If you’ve lost your spirit,
come with us
take off your silk coverings,
put on our rough cloak
and we will bring you back to life.

~ RUMI

– Ghazal (Ode) 74

Rumi: Hidden Music
Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

Hope with Feathers...

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

~ Emily Dickinson

These Are My Wishes For You.....!

May you find serenity and tranquility
in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding will always be there,
even when you feel most alone.

May a kind word,
a reassuring touch,
and a warm smile
be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts
as well as receive them.

May the teachings of those you admire
become part of you,
so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched
and who have touched yours
are always a part of you,
even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.
It is the content of the encounter
that is more important than its form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters,
but instead place immeasurable value
on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see beauty and love
in the world around you.

Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard
you may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present
may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent
on another's judgment of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved. 


~ Sandra Sturtz Hauss  

In the Ocean of the Heart....

In the Ocean of the Heart love opens its mouth 

and gulps down two worlds like a whale

Hear from the heart wordless mysteries!

Understand what cannot be understood!


In man’s stone dark heart, there burns a fire!
That burns all veils to their root and foundation. 
When the veils are burned away,
the heart will understand completely….


Ancient Love will unfold 
ever fresh forms in the heart of the Spirit, 
in the core of the heart. 


~ Rumi

The Breaking Wave of Love.........! by Rumi

Ah, once more he put a fire in me,
And once more this crazy heart
is craving the open plains.
This ocean of love breaks into another wave
And blood pours from my heart
in all directions.


Ah, one spark flew
and burned the house of my heart.
Smoke filled the sky.
The flames grew fierce in the wind.
The fire of the heart is not easily lit.


So don't cry out: "O Lord, rescue me
from the burning flames!
Spare me from the army of thoughts
that is marching through my mind!"


O Heart of Pure Consciousness,
You are the ruler of all hearts.
After countless ages
you brought my soul
all it ever wished for.


The eyes of all people happy and sad,
are closed to the truth.
May their eyes be opened!
May they look upon God
and get drunk on His beauty.


May their hands reach toward the Truth.
May their ears hear the voice of the Beloved.
May the shadow of a Master
fall upon everyone who has devotion.


All the world praises you,
But where did this "you" come from?
All the universe is born of Love
But where did this Love come from?


O  Beloved ,
you are the owner of the land of life
the light of every heart;
Even the King of Love
knows no love
that is not yours.
 ~ Rumi

Version by Jonathan Star
"A Garden Beyond Paradise: The Mystical Poetry of Rumi"
Bantam Books, 1992

The Unveiler of All that is Veiled...

One night I asked Love: “Tell me truly, who are you?”
It said: “I am life eternal, I multiply the lovely life.”
I said: “O you who are beyond each place, where is
your home?”
It said: “I am together with the heart’s fire and beside
the wet eye,
I am a dyer; due to me every cheek turns saffron-colored.
I am a swift-footed messenger, and the lover my lean
steed.
I am the crimson of the tulip, the merchandise’s worth,
I am the sweetness of lament, the unveiler of all that is
veiled . . .”
~ RUMI

– Ghazal (Ode) 1402
Translation by Annemarie Schimmel
“I Am Wind, You are Fire”
Shambhala, 1992

A Bird Without Wings

One who does not have the Beloved
is like a person without a head.
One who flees the cage of love
is like a bird without wings.

What news could one have of the world
That the Keeper of Secrets does not have?

One who is pierced by the arrows of this glance
is like a warrior without a shield.

One who cannot look within himself
is like a man without valor.
One who can’t open the door of his own heart
is like a lover without a tear.

He has placed a door
In the middle of this path.
Only He who has placed it
can open it.

They say, “Wake up, the dawn has come!”
But in our sky who sleeps?
Who gets up at dawn?
Our sky
is without a sunrise
and without a sunset.

You’ve only been here a few days
and you’ve become so friendly with life.
I can’t even talk about death anymore.

You’re on the journey home
And your donkey has fallen asleep
in the middle of the road!
~ Rumi

– Ghazal (Ode) 721
Version by Jonathan Star
“Rumi – In the Arms of the Beloved “
Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York 1997

Without your love, I confess this life will be simply worthless...!

Touch me with hands of velvet softness
look at me with eyes of burning fierceness
kiss me with lips of wanton warm bliss
whisper sweet words of gentleness
that melts me into nothingness

Hold me with strong arms of gentleness
I breathe you, in deep soulfulness
you take me, in slow artfulness
let's celebrate our togetherness
beneath star filled skies of brightness

Embrace me and leave me breathless
never leave me alone and loveless
let's love always in faithfulness
because without your love, I confess
this life will be simply worthless...!

~ Denise Edwards

I'll Paint You A Rainbow ...

I'll paint you a rainbow to hang on the wall,
to brighten your heart when the gray shadows fall.
On a canvas of joy outlasting the years,
with a soft brush of sweetness to dry all your tears.
I'll paint you a rainbow with colors of smiles
That glow with sincerity over the miles.
On a palette of words I will tenderly blend
Tones into treasures of sunlight and wind.

I'll paint you a rainbow that reaches so wide,
Your sights and your sorrows will vanish inside,
And deep in the center of each different hue,
A memory fashioned especially for you.

So lift up your eyes, for suspended above,
A rainbow designed by the fingers of love...!

~ Grace E. Easley

Love Yourself....

"Take good care of yourself - 
you never know when the world will need you." 

 

 ~  Rabbi Hillel