Having nothing and wanting nothing............by Rumi

Last night 

my teacher taught me the lesson of Poverty
Having nothing and wanting nothing.

I am a naked man
standing inside a mine of Rubies
clothed in red silk

I absorb the shining
and now i see the ocean

billion of simultaneous motions
moving in me

A circle of lovely quite people
becomes the ring on my finger

Then the wind and thunder of rain on the way
I have such a teacher.

~ Rumi

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu ,Buddhist, sufi, or zen.......by Rumi

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim,
not Hindu ,Buddhist, sufi, or zen.

Not any religion
or cultural system.

I am not from the East or the West,
not out of the ocean or up from the ground,
not natural or ethereal,
not composed of elements at all.

I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world or in the next,

did not descend from Adam and Eve 

or any origin story.

My place is placeless,
a trace of the traceless.
Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved,
have seen the two worlds as one
and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.

~ Rumi

From The Essential Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks

My Prayer......by Rabindranath Tagore

THIS is my prayer to thee,
my lord - strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength
lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength
to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength
never to disown the poor
or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength
to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength
to surrender my strength to thy will with love.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

THE GRASP OF YOUR HAND.....by Rabindranath Tagore

Let me not pray
to be sheltered from dangers
But to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg 
for the stilling of my pain
But for the heart to conquer it.

Let me not crave
in anxious fear to be saved
But hope for the patience to win my freedom

Grant me that I may not be a coward ,
feeling your mercy in my success alone;
But let me find the grasp of Your hand in my failure.

~ Rabindranath Tagore
(THE GRASP OF YOUR HAND)
From The Heart of God: Prayers of Rabindranath Tagore
by Rabindranath Tagore (Author), Herbert F. Vetter (Edited)

WHEN SPACE IS NOT RATIONED....by Hafiz

For a while
The eagle in flight might say,

'Look dear, I am home
Space is no longer being rationed.'

For a while you might feel
I am complete,

When the touch from another upon certain
Of your fields

Has the power to dissolve all that
Is known.

Wholeness, I think
Draws its life somewhere where the breathing
Stops,

Somewhere where the mind cradles light,
Where the only senses that remain
Blush and stumble

If they try to speak with our language so new
It is still trying to Invent,

Still shaping
Its first intelligible sound,
Still sculpting its first true image of
God."

~ Hafiz
From "The Gift" by Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
(WHEN SPACE IS NOT RATIONED)

I KNOW I WAS THE WATER.....By Hafiz

"Who can believe the divine kindness of God?
Who can comprehend what happens when
Separation ends?

For now,
Because of my union with Reality,
Now,
Whenever I hear a story of one of His prophets
Having come into this world,

I know I was a tree that stood near,
Leaned down and took notes.

I know I was the earth that measured the infinite
Arch in His feet.

I know I was the water,
I know I was the food and water that nourished Him -
That went into our Beloved's mouth.

Pilgrim,
If it is in your wish, you will someday see
You sat inside of Hafiz

And it was with the lyre you gave me
We sang of truth and the sublime intimacy:

'I know I was the water
That quenched the Christ's thirst.

I know I Am the food and water that goes
Into every
Mouth.'"

(Hafiz. "The Gift: Poems by Hafiz - the Great Sufi Master".
Daniel Ladinsky.

Bring some peace......by Hafez

Build a House
for men and birds.

Sit with them
and play music.

For a day,
for just one day,

talk about that
which disturbs no one

and bring
some peace,

my friend,
into your beautiful eyes.

~ Hāfez,
From The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz

I lean as close to your body with my words As I can.......by Hafez

Because the Woman I love lives
Inside of you,

I lean as close to your body with my words
As I can

And I think of you all the time, dear pilgrim.

Because the One I love goes with you
Wherever you go,
Hafiz will always be near.

If you sat before me, wayfarer,
With your aura bright from your many
Charms,

My lips could resist rushing to you and needing
To befriend your blushed cheek,

But my eyes can no longer hide
The wondrous fact of who
You Really are.

The Beautiful One whom I adore
Has pitched His royal tent inside of you,

So I will always lean my heart
As close to your soul
As I can.

~ Hafez
“The Woman I Love” by Hafiz,
translated by Daniel Ladinsky
from The Subject Tonight is Love by Daniel Ladinsky,
published by Penguin Compass. Copyright © 2003 by Daniel Ladinsky

The Ambience of Love......by Hafez

We All

Sit in His orchestra,

Some play their
Fiddles,

Some wield their
Clubs,

Tonight is worthy of music.

Let's get loose
With
Compassion,

Let's drown in the delicious
Ambience of
Love.

~ Hafiz
"The Ambience of Love"
from The Gift
Translations by Daniel Ladinsky

I have made the journey into Nothing......by Hafiz

I have made the journey into Nothing.
I have lit that lamp that
Needs no oil.

I have cried great streams
Of emerald crystals
On my scarred knees, begging love

To never again let me hear from
Any world

The sound of my own name,
Even from the voice of divine thought

Or see that pen you gave me, God,
In the sun's or sky's skillful hand
Writing
Anything other than the word
ONE.

I have made the journey into Nothing
I have become the flame that needs
No fuel.

Beloved,
Now what need is there to ever
Call for Hafiz?

For if you did,
I would just step out
of YOU.

~ Hafiz
from The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master,
by Daniel Ladinsky