Rumi...(long)

[Guest guest]

I was really glad to see some Rumi quotations in the latest Amrita eNews! Here are a few

more that have inspired or resonated with me lately. Blessings, Iswari

 

 

 

The servant complains to God of pain:

in a hundred ways he moans.

God says, "But after all, grief and pain

have caused you to act rightly and humbly call on Me;

complain instead of the bounty that befalls you

and takes you far from My door."

In reality every enemy of yours is your remedy:

he is an elixir, a gift, and one that seeks to win your heart;

for you flee from him into solitude

imploring God's help.

 

~*~

 

Carry your baggage toward silence:

when you seek the signs of the Way,

don't make yourself the focus of attention.

The Prophet said, "Know that amid the sea of cares

my Companions are like guiding stars."

Fix your eye on the stars and seek the Way;

speech confuses the sight: be silent.

 

~*~

 

Anger rises when you're proud

of yourself. Humble that. Use

 

the contempt of others, and your

own self-regarding, to change, like

 

the cloud in folklore that became

three snake shapes. Or if you like

 

the dog-barking lion wrath, enjoy

the hurt longer. Watch a one-year-

 

old, how it walks, the slow wisdom

there. Sometimes a sweet taste

 

makes you sour and mean. Listen

to the voice that says, It was for

 

you I created the universe. Then

kill and be killed in love. You've

 

been two dogs dozing long enough!

 

~*~

 

Now comes the final merging,

Now comes everlasting beauty.

Now comes abundant grace,

Now comes boundless purity.

 

The infinite treasure is shining,

The mighty ocean is roaring,

The morning of grace has come -

Morning? - No!

This is the eternal Light of God!

 

Who occupies this beautiful form?

Who is the ruler and the prince?

Who is the wise man? -

Nothing but a veil.

 

The wine of love removes these veils.

Drink with your head and your eyes -

Both your eyes,

and both your heads!

 

Your head of clay is from the earth,

Your pure awareness is from heaven.

O how vast is that treasure

which lies beneath the clay!

Every head you see depends on it!

 

Behind every atom of this world

hides an infinite universe.

 

O Saaqi, free us from the facade of this world.

Bring wine - barrels full!

Our eyes see too straight -

straight past the truth!

 

The Light of Truth shines from Tabriz.

It is beyond the beyond

yet it is here,

shining through every particle of this world.

 

~*~

 

Off with you! Know that the lover's religion is

contrary to other ways, for false dealings from the Friend

are better than sincerity and kindliness.

What is unthinkable for Him is the actual state, His

chastisement the reward, all of His tyranny justice, His

slander equity.

His harshness is soft, His synagogue the Kaaba –

the thorn driven home by the Heart-ravisher is sweeter than

roses and basil.

When He is sour, He is more excellent than a house

of sugar; when He comes to you in annoyance, He is all

affection and kisses.

When He says to you, "By God, I am sick of you!",

that is Khidr's elixir from the Fountain of Life.

When He says "No!" a thousand yea's are hidden

within it; in this religion of the selfless, He becomes family

and self by remaining a stranger.

His unbelief is faith, His stones all coral, His miser-

liness generosity, His offenses all forgiveness.

If you taunt me and say, "Your religion is bent out

of shape!" – well, I have bought the religion of His bent

eyebrow for the price of my spirit.

This bent religion has made me drunk! Enough!

I will shut my lips – you continue, oh illuminated heart, and

recite the rest silently!

Oh Lord! Oh Shams of God Tabrizi! What sugar

you pour down! You voice a hundred arguments and

proofs from my mouth!

 

~*~

 

Be helpless and dumbfounded,

unable to say yes or no.

 

Then a stretcher will come

from grace to gather us up.

 

We are too dulleyed to see the beauty.

If we say "Yes we can," we'll be lying.

 

If we say "No, we don't see it,"

that "No" will behead us

and shut tight our window into spirit.

 

So let us not be sure of anything,

beside ourselves, and only that, so

miraculous beings come running to help.

 

Crazed, lying in a zero-circle, mute,

we will be saying finally,

with tremendous eloquence, "Lead us."

 

When we've totally surrendered to that beauty,

we'll become a mighty kindness.