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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Stilness...

You do not need to leave your room…
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
Do not even listen, simply wait.
Do not even wait,
be quite still and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you
to be unmasked.
It has no choice.
It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

- Franz Kafka

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Stop Calling Me a Pregnant Woman

My Master once entered a phase
That whenever I would see him
He would say,

"Hafiz,
How did you become a pregnant woman?"

And I would reply,

"Dear Attar,
You must be speaking the truth,
But all of what you say is a mystery to me."

Many months passed by in his blessed company.
But one day I lost my patience
Upon hearing that odd refrain
And blurted out,

"Stop calling me a pregnant woman!"

And Attar replied,
"Someday, my sweet Hafiz,
All the nonsense in your brain will dry up
Like a stagnant pool of water
Beneath the sun.

Though if you want to know the Truth
I can so clearly see that God has made love with you
And the whole universe is germinating
Inside your belly
And wonderful words,
Such enlightening words,
Will take birth from you

And be cradled against thousands
Of hearts."

- Hafiz

From 'The Gift - Poems by Hafiz' by Ladinsky

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Heartsong

(this one is for you Selvi, if you ever happen to read this)

Sing, sing, oh crazy heart,
sing of the cross you bear.
Sing of the love you carried
to a beloved who did not care.

Weep, weep, oh grieving heart,
lay your pain out bare.
Weep at the scornful glances
and accusations unfair.

Rave, rave, oh angry heart,
rave and rant akin.
Rave at grievous injury,
rant at hideous sin.

Grieve, grieve, oh lonely heart,
grief is nature’s cure.
For the depth to which grief has cut,
joy shall fill for sure.

Still, still, oh troubled heart
let all tempests blow.
Unaffected, as you watch
life’s ebb and life’s flow.

Soar, soar, oh heavy heart,
forthright your cares shed.
For look! God has chosen you
to be His beloved.

Sing, sing, oh joyous heart,
sing of joys untold.
For in loving arms He shall
you most lovingly enfold.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The sacred grove


Drop your words, your thoughts,
drop, also, your body, my love,
strip down to your pure soul,
come, enter the sacred grove of silence.

There, among the wellsprings of love
let’s pluck blossoms of incredible joy,
string them on our dancing heartbeats
and offer them at the feet of the Lord.

Then, in total surrender, let us float
in the supreme bliss of the moment
when all but love dissolves
and we stand revealed as Divine.