Saturday, July 20, 2013

Story of my life!..Phra Ajaan Sao

Lead me from dreaming to waking.

Lead me from opacity to clarity. Lead me from the complicated to the simple. Lead me from the obscure to the obvious. Lead me from intention to attention. Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.

Lead me from confrontation to wide openness. Lead me to the place I never left,

Where there is peace, and peace -from the Upanishads-

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..

...inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi! so listen to the mahayogi..,grasshopper from heaven...

Wisdom for Grasshoppers - The funniest movie is here. Find it

In silence there must be movement, and in motion,

There must be silence.
A small movement is better than a big one..
No movement is better than a small one..listen!
Silence is all the movement's mother..
In Movement you should be like a dragon or a tiger.
In non Movement you should be like a Buddha.  
-- Wang Xiangzhai(November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963}

What is referred to as mindlessness is absence of the human mentality; what is referred to as mindfulness is mindfulness of the Tao. When one is free of the human mentality, the mutual sensing of the earthly and celestial is swift; when one is mindful of the Tao, effective practice endures. Swiftness of sensing comes about spontaneously, without cultivation, without striving; long perseverance comes about through effort, and involves action and striving. Striving and non-striving each has its secret; the distinction is all a matter of the absence of the human mentality and the presence of mindfulness of the Tao. After one has reached complete realization of the universal Tao, neither existence nor nonexistence remain; others and self are ultimately empty, and one enters the state of ultimate truthfulness, like a spirit. Here, it is not only the human mentality that cannot be applied; even the mindfulness of Tao is not applicable." - Liu I-ming

The Conduct of the Moon and Clouds

The consistent conduct of people of the Way is like the flowing clouds with no grasping mind, like the full moon reflecting universally, not confined anywhere, glistening within each of the ten thousand forms. Dignified and upright, emerge and make contact with the variety of phenomena, unstained and unconfused. Function the same toward all others since all have the same substance as you. Language cannot transmit this, speculation cannot reach it. Leaping beyond the infinite and cutting off the dependent, be obliging without looking for merit. This marvel cannot be measured with consciousness or emotion. On the journey accept your function, in your house please sustain it. Comprehending birth and death, leaving causes and conditions, genuinely realize that from the outset your spirit is not halted. So we have been told that the mind that embraces all the ten directions does not stop anywhere. -- Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157)

Note*...is very interesting..be careful what this Phra Ajaan Sao says on the end,.."After he had left this level of concentration and came to see Ajaan Sao, he was told, "This level of concentration is fixed penetration (appana samadhi). You can rest assured that in this level of concentration there is no insight or knowledge of anything at all. There's only the brightness and the stillness. If the mind is forever in that state, it will be stuck simply on that level of stillness. So once you've made the mind still like this, watch for the interval where it begins to stir out of its concentration. As soon as the mind has a sense that it's beginning to take up an object — no matter what object may appear first — focus on the act of taking up an object. That's what you should examine.""
The more you care for a person..the more they(or you) think is something MORE than a
circumstance/situation ..etc..
So do NOT take it personal..for it never is.
Is like riding a wave..
BUT if you are a condor..who cares?..
kiss and love:)
ps..so from now on I'll be like this guy..
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/phut/sao.html
Danny
.............

In our day and age, the practice of going into the forest to meditate and follow the ascetic dhutanga practices began with Phra Ajaan Sao Kantasilo, the teacher of Phra Ajaan Mun and, by extension, Phra Ajaan Singh and Phra Ajaan Lee. Phra Ajaan Sao was inclined to be, not a preacher or a speaker, but a doer. When he taught his students, he said very little. And those who studied directly under him are now elders who speak very little, who rarely preach, having picked up the habit from their teacher. Thus, as Phra Ajaan Sao was not a preacher, I would like to tell you a little of the way in which he taught meditation.
How did Phra Ajaan Sao teach? If it so happened that someone came to him, saying, "Ajaan, sir, I want to practice meditation. How should I go about it?" he would answer, "Meditate on the word 'Buddho.'"
If the person asked, "What does 'Buddho' mean?" Ajaan Sao would answer, "Don't ask."
"What will happen after I've meditated on 'Buddho'?"
"Don't ask. Your only duty is simply to repeat the word 'Buddho' over and over in your mind."
That's how he taught: no long, drawn-out explanations.
Now, if the student was sincere in putting the Ajaan's instructions into practice and was persistent in practicing the repetition, if his mind then became calm and bright from entering into concentration, he would come and ask Ajaan Sao: "When meditating on 'Buddho' my state of mind becomes such-and-such. What should I do now?" If it was right, Ajaan Sao would say, "Keep on meditating." If not, he would say, "You have to do such-and-such. What you're doing isn't right."
For example, once when I was his attendant novice, a senior monk of the Mahanikaya sect came and placed himself under his direction as a beginning student in meditation. Ajaan Sao taught him to meditate on "Buddho." Now, when the monk settled down on "Buddho," his mind became calm and, once it was calm, bright. And then he stopped repeating "Buddho." At this point, his mind was simply blank. Afterwards, he sent his attention out, following the brightness, and a number of visions began to arise: spirits of the dead, hungry ghosts, divine beings, people, animals, mountains, forests... Sometimes it seemed as if he, or rather, his mind, left his body and went wandering through the forest and wilderness, seeing the various things mentioned above. Afterwards, he went and told Ajaan Sao, "When I meditated down to the point were the mind became calm and bright, it then went out, following the bright light. Visions of ghosts, divine beings, people, and animals appeared. Sometimes it seemed as if I went out following the visions."
As soon as Ajaan Sao heard this, he said, "This isn't right. For the mind to go knowing and seeing outside isn't right. You have to make it know inside."
The monk then asked, "How should I go about making it know inside?"
Phra Ajaan Sao answered, "When the mind is in a bright state like that, when it has forgotten or abandoned its repetition and is simply sitting empty and still, look for the breath. If the sensation of the breath appears in your awareness, focus on the breath as your object and then simply keep track of it, following it inward until the mind becomes even calmer and brighter."
And so the monk followed the Ajaan's instructions until finally the mind settled down in threshold concentration (upacara samadhi), following which the breath became more and more refined, ultimately to the point where it disappeared. His sensation of having a body also disappeared, leaving just the state in which the mind was sitting absolutely still, a state of awareness itself standing out clear, with no sense of going forward or back, no sense of where the mind was, because at that moment there was just the mind, all on its own. At this point, the monk came again to ask, "After my mind has become calm and bright, and I fix my attention on the breath and follow the breath inward until it reaches a state of being absolutely quiet and still — so still that nothing is left, the breath doesn't appear, the sense of having a body vanishes, only the mind stands out, brilliant and still: When it's like this, is it right or wrong?"
"Whether it's right or wrong," the Ajaan answered, "take that as your standard. Make an effort to be able to do this as often as possible, and only when you're skilled at it should you come and see me again."
So the monk followed the Ajaan's instructions and later was able to make his mind still to the point that there was no sense of having a body and the breath disappeared more and more often. He became more and more skilled, and his mind became more and more firm. Eventually, after he had been making his mind still very frequently — because as a rule, there's the principle that virtue develops concentration, concentration develops discernment, discernment develops the mind — when his concentration became powerful and strong, it gave rise to abhiñña — heightened knowledge and true insight. Knowledge of what? Knowledge of the true nature of the mind, that is, knowing the states of the mind as they occur in the present. Or so he said.
After he had left this level of concentration and came to see Ajaan Sao, he was told, "This level of concentration is fixed penetration (appana samadhi). You can rest assured that in this level of concentration there is no insight or knowledge of anything at all. There's only the brightness and the stillness. If the mind is forever in that state, it will be stuck simply on that level of stillness. So once you've made the mind still like this, watch for the interval where it begins to stir out of its concentration. As soon as the mind has a sense that it's beginning to take up an object — no matter what object may appear first — focus on the act of taking up an object. That's what you should examine."
The monk followed the Ajaan's instructions and afterwards he was able to make fair progress in the level of his mind.
This is one instance of how Phra Ajaan Sao taught his pupils — teaching just a little at a time, giving only the very heart of the practice, almost as if he would say, "Do this, and this, and this," with no explanations at all. Sometimes I would wonder about his way of teaching. That is, I would compare it with books I had read or with the Dhamma-talks I heard given by other teachers. For example, Phra Ajaan Singh wrote a small handbook for the practice of meditation, entitled, Taking the Triple Refuge and the Techniques of Meditation, and in it he said that in practicing meditation you must, before all else, sit with your body straight and establish mindfulness directly in front of you. That's how he put it, but not how Ajaan Sao would put it. Still, the principles they taught were one and the same, the only difference being that Ajaan Sao was not a preacher, and so didn't make use of a lot of rhetoric.
As he explained to me: "When we make up our mind to repeat 'Buddho,' the act of making up the mind is in itself the act of establishing mindfulness. When we keep thinking 'Buddho' and are not willing to let the mind slip away from 'Buddho,' our mindfulness and alertness are already healthy and strong, always watching over the mind to keep it with 'Buddho.' As soon as our attention slips away, so that we forget to think 'Buddho' and go thinking of something else, it's a sign that there's a lapse in our mindfulness. But if we can keep our mindfulness under control and can think 'Buddho, Buddho' continuously, with no gaps, our mindfulness is already strong, so there's no need to go 'establishing mindfulness' anywhere. To think of an object so that it is coupled with the mind is, in and of itself, the act of getting mindfulness established." That was how he explained it to me.
This was one instance of how I saw and heard Phra Ajaan Sao teaching meditation, and should be enough to serve us all as food for thought.

In order to subdue the mind, act with non-action.

Of movement and stillness, be aware of their origin;

There is no work to do, much less someone to seek.

The true and constant must respond to phenomena;

Responding to phenomena, you must be unconfused.

When unconfused, the nature will stabilize by itself;

When the nature stabilizes, energy returns by itself.

When energy returns, the elixir crystallizes by itself;

Within the pot, the trigrams of kǎn and lí(heaven and earth) are joined.

Yīn and yáng arise, alternating over and over again;

Every transformation comes like a clap of thunder.

White clouds form and come to assemble at the peak;

The sweet nectar sprinkles down Mount Sumeru.

Swallow for yourself this wine of immortality;

You wander so freely—who is able to know you?

Sit and listen to the tune played without strings;

Clearly understand the mechanism of creation.

It comes entirely from these twenty lines;

A true ladder going straight to Heaven.-Daoist text -

"The center of the cyclone is that rising quiet central low-pressure place in which one can learn to live eternally. Just outside of this Center is the rotating storm of one's own ego, competing with other egos in a furious high-velocity circular dance. As one leaves center, the roar of rotating wind deafens on more and more as one joins this dance. One's centered thinking-feeling-being, one's own Satoris, are in the center only, not outside. One's pushed-pulled driven states, one's anti-Satori modes of functioning, one's self-created hells, are outside the center. In the center of the cyclone one is off the wheel of Karma, of life, rising to join the Creators of the Universe, the Creators of us.

Here we find that we have created Them who are Us...

Lilly's Law

"In the province of the mind, what is believed to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the(true mind..added by danny) mind, there are no limits."" -- John C. Lilly -

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi!

The student asked: “A sage's response to changing conditions

is unlimited. Does he have to study beforehand?”

He should worry only about his mind's not being

clear, and not about the inability to respond to all changing conditions.”

— Wang Yang Ming (1472-1529)

To us all towns are one, all men our kin. Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill. Man's pains and pains' relief are from within. Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !." - Tamil Poem

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Jerry Seinfeld's Meditation Secret(do not break the chain!!)

Lead me from dreaming to waking.

Lead me from confrontation to wide openness. Lead me to the place I never left,

Where there is peace, and peace -from the Upanishads-

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..

...inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi! so listen to the mahayogi..,grasshopper from heaven...

Wisdom for Grasshoppers - The funniest movie is here. Find it

In silence there must be movement, and in motion,

There must be silence.
A small movement is better than a big one..
No movement is better than a small one..listen!
Silence is all the movement's mother..
In Movement you should be like a dragon or a tiger.
In non Movement you should be like a Buddha.  
-- Wang Xiangzhai(November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963}

The Conduct of the Moon and Clouds

*note* this Jerry Seinfeld (quote..

Jerome "Jerry" Seinfeld (born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television/film producer, best known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons, co-executive-produced..)
However..he HAD a meditation secret..do NOT break the chain.!!
This particular advise is for the beginners in meditation.
The problem is..they NEVER get enough intensity..or they break the chain!!!
And what is the chain?..If I told you to meditate in the morning..DO IT!
Is not like you can fool me,grasshoppers from heaven...you FOOL yourself..
if I tell you this means is from my superior VAST experience in the meditation business..Believe it!

FOR Kripto's sake!...for I am the spirit inside YOU..and I know!

DO NOT BREAK the chain..as marvelously and quintessentially Mister Jerry Seinfeld says(and no..he is not realized..his humor is the same dry jews humor..nothing like hahahaha...you ever seen him laugh?..like Jerry Lewis??.

Will you break the chain?..will your pure desire for the truth stop when the forces of adversity will pop up
like the Texas coyotes..from the Alaya consciousness ?...
Will you surrender ..or will you try to grab your mind using mind...and call it meditation?
meditation is NOT about using mind,even though you MUST use the mind in the initial stage(is like you feel the pain,and you use the mind to escape it..)
be aware that peace ..bliss..is your birthright ..ok?
DO NOT listen to anybody telling you..you have to DO this..you have to do that..
ALL YOU HAVE to do is die ..ok? and you'll die anyway!
All you have to do is follow your bliss/shakti spirit power inside YOU!
That is the witness..and is the real you..ok?
While the source is on the base of the spine..the showering of bliss is from the top of the head..as a cool breeze..the hot stuff they describe as ,,kundalini,, is just the friction points..but the idiots took that as,,source.
I tell you this..you do my kripto cycles..and all that ,,heat,,..will transform in ,,cool,.,
ok?

while the witness is above..the manifesting is below ..it starts with the belly,and ends with the belly,besides the legs channels openings .
As the ancient texts said....the immortals breath from the heels ..remember??that is the BIG taoist circuit!
BREATH doesn't mean your breath!...as some buddhists believe..is watching the true energy in your BODY!
IS THE ENERGY!
breath is JUST a mantra used by the sour coyotes buddhists realm as MANTRA!
Someone named Bob the hunchback of Nostradamus buddhist old dude told me they,,expand this breath..10 feet above..then in all directions??
What kind of insanity is this?..
Either is autonomous or not..or you think you can ,,expend,, the shakti(kundalini) using mental powers?
Since WHEN meditation is about using the mind to transform the mind?
READ MY LIPS..the mind is also an affect...all you can do is..surrender.
This means..forgive any thoughts..forgive EVERYTHING...watch the sensations in your body!
OK?..and forgiveness means the INTENT to let go..ok?

In any case..just follow Jerry system of..,,don't break the chain..ok?
Much love to you..grasshoppers from heaven..
kiss and love..
Danny(loved in the 3 words....worshiped in 10...glory to him in the 19th heaven..for he is the only one there
-added by danny-
..........
http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret

Editor: When software developer Brad Isaac told us he had productivity advice from Jerry Seinfeld, we couldn't turn down the chance to hear more. Read on for the whole story from Brad.

Years ago when Seinfeld was a new television show, Jerry Seinfeld was still a touring comic. At the time, I was hanging around clubs doing open mic nights and trying to learn the ropes. One night I was in the club where Seinfeld was working, and before he went on stage, I saw my chance. I had to ask Seinfeld if he had any tips for a young comic. What he told me was something that would benefit me a lifetime...

He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. But his advice was better than that. He had a gem of a leverage technique he used on himself and you can use it to motivate yourself—even when you don't feel like it.

He revealed a unique calendar system he uses to pressure himself to write. Here's how it works.

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain."

"Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis.

Over the years I've used his technique in many different areas. I've used it for exercise, to learn programming, to learn network administration, to build successful websites and build successful businesses.

It works because it isn't the one-shot pushes that get us where we want to go, it is the consistent daily action that builds extraordinary outcomes. You may have heard "inch by inch anything's a cinch." Inch by inch does work if you can move an inch every day.

Daily action builds habits. It gives you practice and will make you an expert in a short time. If you don't break the chain, you'll start to spot opportunities you otherwise wouldn't. Small improvements accumulate into large improvements rapidly because daily action provides "compounding interest."

Skipping one day makes it easier to skip the next.

I've often said I'd rather have someone who will take action—even if small—every day as opposed to someone who swings hard once or twice a week. Seinfeld understands that daily action yields greater benefits than sitting down and trying to knock out 1000 jokes in one day.

Think for a moment about what action would make the most profound impact on your life if you worked it every day. That is the action I recommend you put on your Seinfeld calendar. Start today and earn your big red X. And from here on out...

Don't break the chain!

My Beloved

My peace, O my brothers and sisters, is my solitude,
And my Beloved is with me always,
For His love I can find no substitute,
And His love is the test for me among mortal beings,
Whenever His Beauty I may contemplate,
He is my "mihrab", towards Him is my "qiblah"

If I die of love, before completing satisfaction,
Alas, for my anxiety in the world, alas for my distress,
O Healer (of souls) the heart feeds upon its desire,
The striving after union with Thee has healed my soul,
O my Joy and my Life abidingly,
You were the source of my life and from Thee also came my ecstasy.
I have separated myself from all created beings,
My hope is for union with Thee, for that is the goal of my desire...

Rabia al Basri 717-801

To nourish the vital energy, keep watch in silence;

In order to subdue the mind, act with non-action.

Of movement and stillness, be aware of their origin;

There is no work to do, much less someone to seek.

The true and constant must respond to phenomena;

Responding to phenomena, you must be unconfused.

When unconfused, the nature will stabilize by itself;

When the nature stabilizes, energy returns by itself.

When energy returns, the elixir crystallizes by itself;

Within the pot, the trigrams of kǎn and lí(heaven and earth) are joined.

Yīn and yáng arise, alternating over and over again;

Every transformation comes like a clap of thunder.

White clouds form and come to assemble at the peak;

The sweet nectar sprinkles down Mount Sumeru.

Swallow for yourself this wine of immortality;

You wander so freely—who is able to know you?

Sit and listen to the tune played without strings;

Clearly understand the mechanism of creation.

It comes entirely from these twenty lines;

A true ladder going straight to Heaven.-Daoist text -

"The center of the cyclone is that rising quiet central low-pressure place in which one can learn to live eternally. Just outside of this Center is the rotating storm of one's own ego, competing with other egos in a furious high-velocity circular dance. As one leaves center, the roar of rotating wind deafens on more and more as one joins this dance. One's centered thinking-feeling-being, one's own Satoris, are in the center only, not outside. One's pushed-pulled driven states, one's anti-Satori modes of functioning, one's self-created hells, are outside the center. In the center of the cyclone one is off the wheel of Karma, of life, rising to join the Creators of the Universe, the Creators of us.

Here we find that we have created Them who are Us...

Lilly's Law

"In the province of the mind, what is believed to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the(true mind..added by danny) mind, there are no limits."" -- John C. Lilly -

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi!

The student asked: “A sage's response to changing conditions

is unlimited. Does he have to study beforehand?”

He should worry only about his mind's not being

clear, and not about the inability to respond to all changing conditions.”

— Wang Yang Ming (1472-1529)

To us all towns are one, all men our kin. Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill. Man's pains and pains' relief are from within. Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !." - Tamil Poem

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Now go to the KriptoDanny dentist

Lead me from dreaming to waking.

Lead me from confrontation to wide openness. Lead me to the place I never left,

Where there is peace, and peace -from the Upanishads-

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..

...inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi! so listen to the mahayogi..,grasshopper from heaven...

Wisdom for Grasshoppers - The funniest movie is here. Find it

In silence there must be movement, and in motion,

There must be silence.
A small movement is better than a big one..
No movement is better than a small one..listen!
Silence is all the movement's mother..
In Movement you should be like a dragon or a tiger.
In non Movement you should be like a Buddha.  
-- Wang Xiangzhai(November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963}

The Conduct of the Moon and Clouds

Ps..just a nice poem I posted on http://kriptodanny.blogspot.ro/2010/03/it-was-scary-and-beautiful-in-same-time.html..
I love it!..
......
Behold the marvelous dentist Long live the clear rainbow light!! Thus spokenth the mahayogi While flexing his wisdom muscles.. Behold the clear light!!! Now you see it,now it's gone Because you have a tooth-ache Named false assumptions.. So take off your glasses Maybe you'll see better And know there was no seer Just the light seeing itself In the rainbow glasses Of the clear light body... Now go to the kriptodanny dentist He will cure your false assumptions There is no tooth to ache.. There is no spoon either... All there is..is the rainbow body Of the tooth-ache .. Marvelous dentist! Now love me..kisses:) -added by danny-

quote:Originally posted by Christi That's what I thought. And thanks for the link. There is a beautiful description in the link of someone learning to use the light body for the first time:

“the truth is that sometime ago, after heavy meditation and fasting ..I have managed to disappear as light.And survived coming back....The problem is that the universe around me also proved to be the same light.So that's WHY I started laughing like a mad man while I was in the middle of the forest...or maybe the forest was laughing too?....All I know is I could see thru my hands...and all I could see was rainbow colors ..and the trees also were made of the same stuff as me....I was,and I am..everybody.

I am you,my beloved...my beloved me.

I know for sure was not some mind trick,because I passed my hand thru some tree..and my hand went right thru it..while all the molecules of rainbow body were laughing at me for trying it..that's when I started laughing too....that was the day when I laughed about the notion of death itself.

Even the tree was laughing at me..well.... because the tree was me too...hahahahaha..lol”

Hi Christi..thank you for calling my experience ,,beautiful,,..actually it was beyond beautiful..it was scary and beautiful in the same time.

Hi guys..nice forum.

I posted on http://kriptodanny.blogspot.com/2009/09/pure-rainbow-body.html the quotes Christi refers too..They are mine,even though Christi said,,someone learning to use the light body,,.

That someone is me..anyway.

Happy to see so many serious practitioners discuss their experiences.

About that famous ,,rainbow body,, experience I've had..It took me completely by surprise.

Because seeing lights or becoming a light-beam(aka rainbow body) wasn't in my expectations..it just happened.

In retrospection,I don't think one could work for it,like..do this..and you'll go,,poof,, in a rainbow body(but maybe I'm mistaken,is just not part of my tradition)

Also,as I recall..I was at the end of a serious 8 months fasting(more or less) and meditation in the forests,while I was travelling by foot from Miami to Philadelphia...lost over 40 lb in the process.The more skinny I'd get,the more my meditations were becoming more amazing..kundalini waves were manifesting as a cool breeze in an empty shell of a skin bag,named ,,the body,,.

Total bliss indeed.

So I figured..why bother meditating,Danny..just go in the forest and abandon the body.

So as I was stepping deeper and deeper in the forest,with each step I'd abandon some deep layers of ego(while I was still in total bliss and joy).

Then I stopped still right in the middle of forest..and realized that I have abandoned even the idea of abandoning the body.

Then I asked aloud...then why I am here?

And set down in lotus,wondering about this question,looking around.,scratching my 8 months grown beard.

Then something happened...

As I abandoned even that question(why I am here?..on this earth I ment)..then poof..as I looked around..everything was light..I was a rainbow of light.I could see thru the trees too..and every one of them ,every leaf was me.

So I guess in the end it comes down to ,,letting go,, and something,the real nature will reveal itself.

When I saw that my real nature was light..and the same as the forest..I started to laugh so hard..of my previous stupidity to abandon the body.There is no one to abandon the body,see?

The meaning I got after that experience,as everything turned to normal..and the forest was there again,was that I was the light experiencing itself.

Never talked about that for years,till I read about the tibetan buddhists ,,rainbow of light,, and stuff.

Took me awhile to process the experience,really.

This stuff is real,indeed.

And about 3 weeks after that,as I was walking on the streets,I could see the people empty..just shadows of light,not aware of their essence.

Anyway,hope I haven't bothered you with my babbling ,I hope,hopefully..because you are the hope of the world(which doesn't exist,but it could if enough people realize their true nature)

To nourish the vital energy, keep watch in silence;

In order to subdue the mind, act with non-action.

Of movement and stillness, be aware of their origin;

There is no work to do, much less someone to seek.

The true and constant must respond to phenomena;

Responding to phenomena, you must be unconfused.

When unconfused, the nature will stabilize by itself;

When the nature stabilizes, energy returns by itself.

When energy returns, the elixir crystallizes by itself;

Within the pot, the trigrams of kǎn and lí(heaven and earth) are joined.

Yīn and yáng arise, alternating over and over again;

Every transformation comes like a clap of thunder.

White clouds form and come to assemble at the peak;

The sweet nectar sprinkles down Mount Sumeru.

Swallow for yourself this wine of immortality;

You wander so freely—who is able to know you?

Sit and listen to the tune played without strings;

Clearly understand the mechanism of creation.

It comes entirely from these twenty lines;

A true ladder going straight to Heaven.-Daoist text -

"The center of the cyclone is that rising quiet central low-pressure place in which one can learn to live eternally. Just outside of this Center is the rotating storm of one's own ego, competing with other egos in a furious high-velocity circular dance. As one leaves center, the roar of rotating wind deafens on more and more as one joins this dance. One's centered thinking-feeling-being, one's own Satoris, are in the center only, not outside. One's pushed-pulled driven states, one's anti-Satori modes of functioning, one's self-created hells, are outside the center. In the center of the cyclone one is off the wheel of Karma, of life, rising to join the Creators of the Universe, the Creators of us.

Here we find that we have created Them who are Us...

Lilly's Law

"In the province of the mind, what is believed to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the(true mind..added by danny) mind, there are no limits."" -- John C. Lilly -

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi!

The student asked: “A sage's response to changing conditions

is unlimited. Does he have to study beforehand?”

He should worry only about his mind's not being

clear, and not about the inability to respond to all changing conditions.”

— Wang Yang Ming (1472-1529)

To us all towns are one, all men our kin. Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill. Man's pains and pains' relief are from within. Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !." - Tamil Poem

Sunday, June 16, 2013

A celui,celle,qui se reconnaîtront dans ce poème...

Lead me from dreaming to waking.

Lead me from confrontation to wide openness. Lead me to the place I never left,

Where there is peace, and peace -from the Upanishads-

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..

...inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi! so listen to the mahayogi..,grasshopper from heaven...

Wisdom for Grasshoppers - The funniest movie is here. Find it

In silence there must be movement, and in motion,

There must be silence.
A small movement is better than a big one..
No movement is better than a small one..listen!
Silence is all the movement's mother..
In Movement you should be like a dragon or a tiger.
In non Movement you should be like a Buddha.  
-- Wang Xiangzhai(November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963}

The Conduct of the Moon and Clouds

Note...I miss her..eghh..too bad she didn't listen to me..kiss to her....I still love you,Sharmila:)

A celui,celle,qui se reconnaîtront dans ce poème...

Ne m'éconduis pas... mais..
conduis -moi!

Mènes-moi, du rêve à la réalité,
Mènes-moi ,de l'opacité à la clarté,
Sors-moi du compliqué,
à la simplicité,
Conduis-moi de l'obscur à l'évident,
Conduis-moi de l'intention à " l'attention ,"
Délivre-moi de ce qu'on m'a dit "qui j'étais"
Et fais moi voir qui "vraiment " je suis

Conduis-moi à l'endroit que je n'ai
jamais,ô jamais quitté...

Et, viens, viens..reste; avec moi,
Au Royaume de la "Paix "(from
http://kriptodanny.blogspot.ro/2009/11/my-beloved-belgian-flower-named.html)

My Beloved

My peace, O my brothers and sisters, is my solitude,
And my Beloved is with me always,
For His love I can find no substitute,
And His love is the test for me among mortal beings,
Whenever His Beauty I may contemplate,
He is my "mihrab", towards Him is my "qiblah"

If I die of love, before completing satisfaction,
Alas, for my anxiety in the world, alas for my distress,
O Healer (of souls) the heart feeds upon its desire,
The striving after union with Thee has healed my soul,
O my Joy and my Life abidingly,
You were the source of my life and from Thee also came my ecstasy.
I have separated myself from all created beings,
My hope is for union with Thee, for that is the goal of my desire...

Rabia al Basri 717-801

To nourish the vital energy, keep watch in silence;

In order to subdue the mind, act with non-action.

Of movement and stillness, be aware of their origin;

There is no work to do, much less someone to seek.

The true and constant must respond to phenomena;

Responding to phenomena, you must be unconfused.

When unconfused, the nature will stabilize by itself;

When the nature stabilizes, energy returns by itself.

When energy returns, the elixir crystallizes by itself;

Within the pot, the trigrams of kǎn and lí(heaven and earth) are joined.

Yīn and yáng arise, alternating over and over again;

Every transformation comes like a clap of thunder.

White clouds form and come to assemble at the peak;

The sweet nectar sprinkles down Mount Sumeru.

Swallow for yourself this wine of immortality;

You wander so freely—who is able to know you?

Sit and listen to the tune played without strings;

Clearly understand the mechanism of creation.

It comes entirely from these twenty lines;

A true ladder going straight to Heaven.-Daoist text -

"The center of the cyclone is that rising quiet central low-pressure place in which one can learn to live eternally. Just outside of this Center is the rotating storm of one's own ego, competing with other egos in a furious high-velocity circular dance. As one leaves center, the roar of rotating wind deafens on more and more as one joins this dance. One's centered thinking-feeling-being, one's own Satoris, are in the center only, not outside. One's pushed-pulled driven states, one's anti-Satori modes of functioning, one's self-created hells, are outside the center. In the center of the cyclone one is off the wheel of Karma, of life, rising to join the Creators of the Universe, the Creators of us.

Here we find that we have created Them who are Us...

Lilly's Law

"In the province of the mind, what is believed to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the(true mind..added by danny) mind, there are no limits."" -- John C. Lilly -

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi!

The student asked: “A sage's response to changing conditions

is unlimited. Does he have to study beforehand?”

He should worry only about his mind's not being

clear, and not about the inability to respond to all changing conditions.”

— Wang Yang Ming (1472-1529)

To us all towns are one, all men our kin. Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill. Man's pains and pains' relief are from within. Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !." - Tamil Poem

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Poems by Rumi

Lead me from dreaming to waking.

Lead me from confrontation to wide openness. Lead me to the place I never left,

Where there is peace, and peace -from the Upanishads-

Unless you know the emptiness and bliss inside yourself..you'll be a robot forced by the same emptiness and bliss trying to know itself..by pain..

...inside your self also..trust me!..said the mahayogi! so listen to the mahayogi..,grasshopper from heaven...

Wisdom for Grasshoppers - The funniest movie is here. Find it

In silence there must be movement, and in motion,

There must be silence.
A small movement is better than a big one..
No movement is better than a small one..listen!
Silence is all the movement's mother..
In Movement you should be like a dragon or a tiger.
In non Movement you should be like a Buddha.  
-- Wang Xiangzhai(November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963}

The Conduct of the Moon and Clouds

*note*..lovely poems from Rumi quote "
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Persian: جلال‌الدین محمد بلخى‎), also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (جلال‌الدین محمد رومی),

and more popularly in the English-speaking world simply as Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian^[1]^[6] poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic.^[7] Iranians, Turks, Afghans, Tajiks, and other Central Asian Muslims as well as the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy in the past seven centuries.^[8] Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. In 2007, he was described as the "most popular poet in America."^[9]
"..
Kiss to him:)
-added by danny-
........

Poems by Rumi

Wedding Poems
Be Lost in the Call
O you who've gone on pilgrimage
We are as the flute
On the Deathbed
This Marriage
This World
Call of Love
Our Death is our Wedding
I've said before that every craftsman
"NOONE" says it better
These Spiritual Window-shoppers
The drum of the realization
From Fihi ma Fihi
I Died from minerality
Soul receives from soul
If thou wilt be observant
I said, 'Thou art harsh'

Be Lost in the Call Lord, said David, since you do not need us,
why did you create these two worlds?
Reality replied: O prisoner of time,
I was a secret treasure of kindness and generosity,
and I wished this treasure to be known,
so I created a mirror: its shining face, the heart;
its darkened back, the world;
The back would please you if you've never seen the face.
Has anyone ever produced a mirror out of mud and straw?
Yet clean away the mud and straw,
and a mirror might be revealed.
Until the juice ferments a while in the cask,
it isn't wine. If you wish your heart to be bright,
you must do a little work.
My King addressed the soul of my flesh:
You return just as you left.
Where are the traces of my gifts?
We know that alchemy transforms copper into gold.
This Sun doesn't want a crown or robe from God's grace.
He is a hat to a hundred bald men,
a covering for ten who were naked.
Jesus sat humbly on the back of an ass, my child!
How could a zephyr ride an ass?
Spirit, find your way, in seeking lowness like a stream.
Reason, tread the path of selflessness into eternity.
Remember God so much that you are forgotten.
Let the caller and the called disappear;
be lost in the Call.

- "Love is a Stranger", Kabir Helminski
Threshold Books, 1993

O you who've gone on pilgrimage -
              where are you, where, oh where?
Here, here is the Beloved!
              Oh come now, come, oh come!
Your friend, he is your neighbor,
             he is next to your wall -
You, erring in the desert -
              what air of love is this?
If you'd see the Beloved's
              form without any form -
You are the house, the master,
              You are the Kaaba, you! . . .
Where is a bunch of roses,
              if you would be this garden?
Where, one soul's pearly essence
              when you're the Sea of God?
That's true - and yet your troubles
              may turn to treasures rich -
How sad that you yourself veil
              the treasure that is yours!

Rumi 'I Am Wind, You are Fire'
Translation by Annemarie Schimmel

Ý

Oh, if a tree could wander
     and move with foot and wings!
It would not suffer the axe blows
     and not the pain of saws!
For would the sun not wander
     away in every night ?
How could at ev?ry morning
     the world be lighted up?
And if the ocean?s water
     would not rise to the sky,
How would the plants be quickened
     by streams and gentle rain?
The drop that left its homeland,
     the sea, and then returned ?
It found an oyster waiting
     and grew into a pearl.
Did Yusaf not leave his father,
     in grief and tears and despair?
Did he not, by such a journey,
     gain kingdom and fortune wide?
Did not the Prophet travel
     to far Medina, friend?
And there he found a new kingdom
     and ruled a hundred lands.
You lack a foot to travel?
     Then journey into yourself!
And like a mine of rubies
     receive the sunbeams? print!
Out of yourself ? such a journey
     will lead you to your self,
It leads to transformation
     of dust into pure gold!

Look! This is Love - Poems of Rumi,
Annemarie Schimme

Come, come, whoever you are.

Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.

It doesn't matter.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Come, even if you have broken your vow

a thousand times

Come, yet again, come, come.

We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee;
we are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee.

We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat:
our victory and defeat is from thee, O thou whose qualities are comely!

Who are we, O Thou soul of our souls,
that we should remain in being beside thee?

We and our existences are really non-existence;
thou art the absolute Being which manifests the perishable.

We all are lions, but lions on a banner:
because of the wind they are rushing onward from moment to moment.

Their onward rush is visible, and the wind is unseen:
may that which is unseen not fail from us!

Our wind whereby we are moved and our being are of thy gift;
our whole existence is from thy bringing into being.

Masnavi Book I, 599-607 Ý

On the Deathbed Go, rest your head on a pillow, leave me alone;
leave me ruined, exhausted from the journey of this night,
writhing in a wave of passion till the dawn.
Either stay and be forgiving,
or, if you like, be cruel and leave.
Flee from me, away from trouble;
take the path of safety, far from this danger.
We have crept into this corner of grief,
turning the water wheel with a flow of tears.
While a tyrant with a heart of flint slays,
and no one says, "Prepare to pay the blood money."
Faith in the king comes easily in lovely times,
but be faithful now and endure, pale lover.
No cure exists for this pain but to die,
So why should I say, "Cure this pain"?
In a dream last night I saw
an ancient one in the garden of love,
beckoning with his hand, saying, "Come here."
On this path, Love is the emerald,
the beautiful green that wards off dragonsnough, I am losing myself.
If you are a man of learning,
read something classic,
a history of the human struggle
and don't settle for mediocre verse.

Kulliyat-i-Shams 2039

This Marriage

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.

Kulliyat-i-Shams 2667

This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness

Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!

Yet somehow comes emptiness,
this existence goes.

Praise to that happening, over and over!
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.

Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.

Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.

The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece of straw
blown off into emptiness.

These words I'm saying so much begin to lose meaning:
Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw:

Words and what they try to say swept
out the window, down the slant of the roof.

"It is said that after Muhammad and the prophets revelation does not descend upon anyone else. Why not? In fact it does, but then it is not called 'revelation.' It is what the Prophet referred to when he said, 'The believer sees with the Light of God.' When the believer looks with 'The believer sees with the Light of God.' When the believer looks with God's Light, he sees all things: the first and the last, the present and the absent. For how can anything be hidden from God's Light? And if something is hidden, then it is not the Light of God. Therefore the meaning of revelation exists, even if it is not called revelation."

Fihi ma fihi [Discourses of Rumi]
quoted from William C. Chittick, _The Sufi Path of Love:
The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi(Albany: SUNY, 1983)

The drum of the realization of the promise is beating,
we are sweeping the road to the sky. Your joy is here today, what remains for tomorrow?
The armies of the day have chased the army of the night,
Heaven and earth are filled with purity and light.
Oh! joy for he who has escaped from this world of perfumes and color!
For beyond these colors and these perfumes, these are other colors in the heart and the soul.
Oh! joy for this soul and this heart who have escaped
the earth of water and clay,
Although this water and this clay contain the hearth of the
philosophical stone.

(Mystic Odes 473)

At every instant and from every side, resounds the call of Love:
We are going to sky, who wants to come with us?
We have gone to heaven, we have been the friends of the angels,
And now we will go back there, for there is our country.
We are higher than heaven, more noble than the angels:
Why not go beyond them? Our goal is the Supreme Majesty.
What has the fine pearl to do with the world of dust?
Why have you come down here? Take your baggage back. What is this place?
Luck is with us, to us is the sacrifice!...
Like the birds of the sea, men come from the ocean--the ocean of the soul.
Like the birds of the sea, men come from the ocean--the ocean of the soul.
How could this bird, born from that sea, make his dwelling here?
No, we are the pearls from the bosom of the sea, it is there that we dwell:
Otherwise how could the wave succeed to the wave that comes from the soul?
The wave named 'Am I not your Lord' has come, it has broken the vessel of the body;
And when the vessel is broken, the vision comes back, and the union with Him.

Eva de Vitray-Meyerovitch, 'Rumi and Sufism' trans. Simone Fattal
Sausalito, CA: Post-Apollo Press, 1977, 1987.

Our death is our wedding with eternity.
What is the secret? "God is One."
The sunlight splits when entering the windows of the house.
This multiplicity exists in the cluster of grapes;
It is not in the juice made from the grapes.
For he who is living in the Light of God,
The death of the carnal soul is a blessing.
Regarding him, say neither bad nor good,
For he is gone beyond the good and the bad.
Fix your eyes on God and do not talk about what is invisible,
So that he may place another look in your eyes.
It is in the vision of the physical eyes
That no invisible or secret thing exists.
But when the eye is turned toward the Light of God
What thing could remain hidden under such a Light?
Although all lights emanate from the Divine Light
Don't call all these lights "the Light of God";
It is the eternal light which is the Light of God,
The ephemeral light is an attribute of the body and the flesh.
...Oh God who gives the grace of vision!
The bird of vision is flying towards You with the wings of desire.

(Mystic Odes 833)

I've said before that every craftsman
searches for what's not there
to practice his craft.

A builder looks for the rotten hole
where the roof caved in. A water-carrier
picks the empty pot. A carpenter
stops at the house with no door.

Workers rush toward some hint
of emptiness, which they then
start to fill. Their hope, though,
is for emptiness, so don't think
you must avoid it. It contains
what you need!
Dear soul, if you were not friends
with the vast nothing inside,
why would you always be casting you net
into it, and waiting so patiently?

This invisible ocean has given you such abundance,
but still you call it "death",
that which provides you sustenance and work.

God has allowed some magical reversal to occur,
so that you see the scorpion pit
as an object of desire,
and all the beautiful expanse around it,
as dangerous and swarming with snakes.

This is how strange your fear of death
and emptiness is, and how perverse
the attachment to what you want.

Now that you've heard me
on your misapprehensions, dear friend,
listen to Attar's story on the same subject.

He strung the pearls of this
about King Mahmud, how among the spoils
of his Indian campaign there was a Hindu boy,
whom he adopted as a son. He educated
and provided royally for the boy
and later made him vice-regent, seated
on a gold throne beside himself.

One day he found the young man weeping..
"Why are you crying? You're the companion
of an emperor! The entire nation is ranged out
before you like stars that you can command!"

The young man replied, "I am remembering
my mother and father, and how they
scared me as a child with threats of you!
'Uh-oh, he's headed for King Mahmud's court!
Nothing could be more hellish!' Where are they now
when they should see me sitting here?"

This incident is about your fear of changing.
You are the Hindu boy. Mahmud, which means
Praise to the End, is the spirit's
poverty or emptiness.

The mother and father are your attachment
to beliefs and blood ties
and desires and comforting habits.
Don't listen to them!
They seem to protect
but they imprison.

They are your worst enemies.
They make you afraid
of living in emptiness.

Some day you'll weep tears of delight in that court,
remembering your mistaken parents!

Know that your body nurtures the spirit,
helps it grow, and gives it wrong advise.

The body becomes, eventually, like a vest
of chain mail in peaceful years,
too hot in summer and too cold in winter.

But the body's desires, in another way, are like
an unpredictable associate, whom you must be
patient with. And that companion is helpful,
because patience expands your capacity
to love and feel peace.
The patience of a rose close to a thorn
keeps it fragrant. It's patience that gives milk
to the male camel still nursing in its third year,
and patience is what the prophets show to us.

The beauty of careful sewing on a shirt
is the patience it contains.

Friendship and loyalty have patience
as the strength of their connection.

Feeling lonely and ignoble indicates
that you haven't been patient.

Be with those who mix with God
as honey blends with milk, and say,

"Anything that comes and goes,
rises and sets, is not
what I love." else you'll be like a caravan fire left
to flare itself out alone beside the road.

Rumi VI (1369-1420) from 'Rumi : One-Handed Basket Weaving

"NOONE" says it better:

What is the mi'raj¹² of the heavens?
Non-existence.
The religion and creed of the lovers is non- existence.

Masnavi VI 233

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, 'We Are Three', Mathnawi VI, 831-845

I died from minerality and became vegetable;

And From vegetativeness I died and became animal.

I died from animality and became man.

Then why fear disappearance through death?

Next time I shall die

Bringing forth wings and feathers like angels;

After that, soaring higher than angels -

What you cannot imagine,

I shall be that.

Soul receives from soul that knowledge, therefore not by book

nor from tongue.

If knowledge of mysteries come after emptiness of mind, that is

illumination of heart.

If thou wilt be observant and vigilant, thou wilt see at every moment the response to thy action. Be observant if thou wouldst have a pure heart, for something is born to thee in consequence of every action.

I said, 'Thou art harsh, like such a one.'

'Know,' he replied,

'That I am harsh for good, not from rancor and spite.

Whoever enters saying, "This I," I smite him on the brow;

For this is the shrine of Love, o fool! it is not a sheep cote!

Rub thine eyes, and behold the image of the heart.'

Make yourself free from self at one stroke!

Like a sword be without trace of soft iron;

Like a steel mirror, scour off all rust with contrition.

A Star Without a Name

When a baby is taken from the wet nurse,

it easily forgets her

and starts eating solid food.

Seeds feed awhile on ground,

then lift up into the sun.

So you should taste the filtered light

and work your way toward wisdom

with no personal covering.

That's how you came here, like a star

without a name. Move across the night sky

with those anonymous lights.

(Mathnawi III, 1284-1288)

"Say I am You" Coleman Barks Maypop, 1994

God has given us a dark wine so potent that,
drinking it, we leave the two worlds.
God has put into the form of hashish a power
to deliver the taster from self-consciousness.
God has made sleep so
that it erases every thought.
God made Majnun love Layla so much that
just her dog would cause confusion in him.
There are thousands of wines
that can take over our minds.
Don't think all ecstacies
are the same!

Jesus was lost in his love for God.
His donkey was drunk with barley.
Drink from the presence of saints,
not from those other jars.
Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.
Be a conoisseur,
and taste with caution.
Any wine will get you high.
Judge like a king, and choose the purest,
the ones unadulterated with fear,
or some urgency about "what's needed."
Drink the wine that moves you
as a camel moves when it's been untied,
and is just ambling about.

Mathnawi IV, 2683-96
The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks

Gone to the Unseen
At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.
What marvelous route did you take from this world?
Beating your wings and feathers,
you broke free from this cage.
Rising up to the sky
you attained the world of the soul.
You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.
Then you heard the drummer's call
and flew beyond space and time.
As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.
Then came the scent of the rosegarden
and you flew off to meet the Rose.
The wine of this fleeting world
caused your head to ache.
Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.
Like an arrow, you sped from the bow
and went straight for the bull's eye of bliss.
This phantom world gave you false signs
But you turned from the illusion
and journeyed to the land of truth.
You are now the Sun -
what need have you for a crown?
You have vanished from this world -
what need have you to tie your robe?
I've heard that you can barely see your soul.
But why look at all? -
yours is now the Soul of Souls!
O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.
Seeking divine heights,
Flapping your wings,
you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.
The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you -
You are the fearless rose
that grows amidst the freezing wind.
Pouring down like the rain of heaven
you fell upon the rooftop of this world.
Then you ran in every direction
and escaped through the drain spout . . .
Now the words are over
and the pain they bring is gone.
Now you have gone to rest
in the arms of the Beloved.

"Rumi - In the Arms of the Beloved", Jonathan Star
New York 1997

How did you get away?
You were the pet falcon of an old woman.
Did you hear the falcon-drum?
You were a drunken songbird put in with owls.
Did you smell the odor of a garden?
You got tired of sour fermenting
and left the tavern.
You went like an arrow to the target
from the bow of time and place.
The man who stays at the cemetery pointed the way,
but you didn't go.
You became light and gave up wanting to be famous.
You don't worry about what you're going to eat,
so why buy an engraved belt?
I've heard of living at the center, but what about
leaving the center of the center?
Flying toward thankfulness, you become
the rare bird with one wing made of fear,
and one of hope. In autumn,
a rose crawling along the ground in the cold wind.
Rain on the roof runs down and out by the spout
as fast as it can.
Talking is pain. Lie down and rest,
now that you've found a friend to be with.

"These Branching Moments", Coleman Barks
Copper Beech Press, 1988

He Comes

He comes, a moon whose like the sky ne'er saw, awake or dreaming.
Crowned with eternal flame no flood can lay.
Lo, from the flagon of thy love, O Lord, my soul is swimming,
And ruined all my body's house of clay!

When first the Giver of the grape my lonely heart befriended,
Wine fired my bosom and my veins filled up;
But when his image all min eye possessed, a voice descended:
'Well done, O sovereign Wine and peerless Cup!'

Love's mighty arm from roof to base each dark abode is hewing,
Where chinks reluctant catch a golden ray.
My heart, when Love's sea of a sudden burst into its viewing,
Leaped headlong in, with 'Find me now who may!'

As, the sun moving, clouds behind him run,
All hearts attend thee, O Tabriz's Sun!

R. A. Nicholson

'Persian Poems', an Anthology of verse translations
edited by A.J.Arberry, Everyman's Library, 1972

Poor copies out of heaven's originals,
Pale earthly pictures mouldering to decay,
What care although your beauties break and fall,
When that which gave them life endures for aye?

Oh never vex thine heart with idle woes:
All high discourse enchanting the rapt ear,
All gilded landscapes and brave glistering shows
Fade-perish, but it is not as we fear.

Whilst far away the living fountains ply,
each petty brook goes brimful to the main
Since baron nor fountain can for ever die,
Thy fears how foolish, thy lament how vain!

What is this fountain, wouldst thou rightly know?
The Soul whence issue all created things.
Doubtless the rivers shall not cease to flow,
Till silenced are the everlasting springs.

Farewell to sorrow, and with quiet mind
Drink long and deep: let others fondly deem
The channel empty they perchance may find,
Or fathom that unfathomable stream.

The moment thou to this low world wast given,
A ladder stood whereby thou might'st aspire;
And first thy steps, which upward still have striven,
From mineral mounted to the plant; then higher

To animal existence; next, the Man,
With knowledge, reason, faith. Oh wondrous goal!
This body, which a crumb of dust began-
How fairly fashioned the consummate whole!

Yet stay not here thy journey: thou shalt grow
An angel bright and home far off in heaven.
Plod on, plunge last in the great Sea, that so
Thy little drop make oceans seven times seven.

'The Son of God!' Nay, leave that word unsaid,
Say: 'God is One, the pure, the single Truth.'
What though thy frame be withered, old, and dead,
If the soul keep her fresh immortal youth?

R. A. Nicholson