These spiritual window-shoppers, who idly ask, 'How much is that?' Oh, I'm just looking. They handle a hundred items and put them down, shadows with no capital.
What is spent is love and two eyes wet with weeping. But these walk into a shop, and their whole lives pass suddenly in that moment, in that shop.
Where did you go? "Nowhere." What did you have to eat? "Nothing much."
Even if you don't know what you want, buy _something,_ to be part of the exchanging flow. Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah.
It makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.
Rumi,
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
A few people have posted DESIDERTA on Facebook today and I couldn't resist posting this Video on my blog. I will probably get some shit for it, but lighten up and eat a bagel with loads of cream cheese. I first heard this on the National Lampoon 'Radio Dinner' album when Desiderata was making the rounds of my local High School back in 1971.
the original
desiderata -
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser
persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
A man went to the door
of the Beloved and knocked.
A voice replied, 'Who is there?'
The man answered, 'It is I.'
The voice said,
'There is no room for 'I' and 'Thou.''
The door remained closed.
After a year of solitude
and deprivation he returned
and knocked again.
A voice from within asked,
'Who is there?'
The man said, 'It is Thou.'
The door was finally open.
The day was getting dark and I saw the snow blossoms
On snow capped Mt. Yeonam,
A young student informed me that
The drum had been already been struck for the evening meal
of the crevices and valleys below my feet.
Jinding cliff falls off into a sea of vast whiteness,
Wumen-sí means temple above the clouds,
where Zen Monks practice and
pay homage to the sacred Bodhisattva’s home.
one minute visible and then gone
in the very next instant.
many Monks living at the roof of China
in the perfection of blue skies
and bright sun
the thin air has me gasping for breath.
I bow to Samantabhadra
as an old monk strikes the bell,
Amidofu he says,
Amidofu I reply.
we sometimes find ourselves
in the the craggy places in life
there is no warmth
the sun always seems to be obscured by clouds
as the dampness sets in
we realize our place in the cosmos
good and bad
right and wrong
these are merely constructs
if we attach to our situation
we lose ourselves in the process
it is this subtle understanding
that blocks the path
to our true selves
whether our situation is good
or our situation is bad
has nothing to do with our lives.
we must see the truth
in this very moment
and transcendence all of our thinking
to arrive at the present
and say hello
to our true selves
[i]Coleman Barks: an American poet and renowned translator of Rumi poetry and other mystic poets of Persia. Barks has published several volumes of Rumi’s poetry since 1976, including The Hand of Poetry, Five Mystic Poets of Persia in 1993, The Essential Rumi in 1995 and The Book of Love in 2003. Coleman Barks himself does not speak Persian, and bases his translations entirely off of other English translations of Rumi. In addition, while the original Persian poetry of Rumi is heavily rhymed and metered, Barks has used primarily free verse. This has led some to criticize Barks’ works as essentially original creations, while others laud his efforts at providing the essence of Rumi’s poetry in an accessible format.
[ii]Mawlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Persian: مولانا جلال الدين محمد رومي , Turkish: Mevlânâ Celâleddin Mehmed Rumi) (1207 — 1273 CE), also known as Muhammad Balkhī (Persian: محمد بلخى ), was a 13th century Persian poet, jurist, theologian and teacher of Sufism. Rumi was born in Balkh (then a city of the Greater Khorasan province of Persia, now part of Afghanistan) and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey). His birthplace and native tongue indicate a Persian/Iranian heritage. He also wrote his poetry in Persian and his works are widely read in Iran and Afghanistan where the language is spoken. He lived most of his life and produced his works under the Seljuk Empire and his descendants today are Turkish citizens and live in modern day Turkey. Rumi’s importance transcends national and ethnic borders. He has had a significant influence on both Turkish and Persian literature throughout the centuries. His poems have been translated into many of the world’s languages and have appeared in various formats. He was also the founder of the Mevlevi order, better known as the “Whirling Dervishes”, who believe in performing their worship in the form of dance and music ceremony called the sema.
[iii]Bismilla: (Arabic بسملة) is an Arabic-language noun which is used as the collective name of the whole of the recurring Islamic phrase bismi-llāhi ar-rahmāni ar-rahīmi (listen). This phrase constitutes the first verse of the first “sura” (or chapter) of the Qur’an, and is used in a number of contexts by Muslims. It is recited several times as part of Muslim daily prayers, and it is usually the first phrase in the preamble of the constitutions of Islamic countries.
