She Walks in Beauty

This is one of the more romantic poems written by Lord Byron in 1814.  It speaks of a moment when a man is deeply moved by an impression of a beautiful woman. 

She Walks in Beauty

By Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night 
Of cloudless climes and starry skies; 
And all that's best of dark and bright 
Meet in her aspect and her eyes: 
Thus mellow'd to that tender light 
Which heaven to gaudy day denies. 

One shade more, one ray less, 
Had half impair'd the nameless grace 
Which waves in every raven tress, 
Or softly lightens o'er her face; 
Where thoughts serenely sweet express 
How pure, how dear their dwelling place. 

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow 
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, 
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 
But tell of days in goodness spent, 
A mind at peace with all below, 
A heart whose love is innocent!

We Know .....

"We know that we love each other from a time before the earth began, from a childhood before all the ages of being, we love each other from the womb of existence, as the stars would love one another if they knew of their splendor..." — Rainer Maria Rilke

The Day Sky

Let us be like

Two falling stars in the day sky.

Let no one know of our sublime beauty

As we hold hands with God

And burn

Into a sacred existence that defies -

That surpasses

Every description of ecstasy

And love.

Hafiz

Eternal Beloved

I have no where to reach

only towards You

my eternal Beloved.

From you I came

and to You my soul yearns to return

To merge with your essence,  

which is love and bliss

Everything around me breathes temporarily

How can I hold on to what is transient

Only You are the forever

Only You are the source

Only You can refill my soul with new light

Only You can teach me about divine love

Bless me my dear love

I am your servant

And you my eternal Beloved

Be Drunk in Love

Be Drunk in Love, Since Love Is Everything That Exists

By Rumi

Be drunk in love, since love is everything that exists. 

Without the occupation and trading of love there isn't any door to the 

Beloved.

It is love and it is the lover that are enduring for time without end; don't put anything except this upon your heart, since it isn't but something borrowed. 

Love is the cure, for your pain will keep giving birth to more pain until your eyes constantly exhale love as effortlessly as your body yields its scent.

Conscious Love

Everyone will agree that human beings seek romantic Love. We seek to love and to be loved, to share intimacy, sexual pleasure, and life experiences. Most lovers experience elated and higher states when they first fall in love. They begin to idealize each other and become blind to anything negative in the lover or in the outside world. We see such lovers like living in a different world, enjoying  the simplicity of life. It is this state that many yearn to return to. In long term relationships some may say they love someone but they are not "in love" anymore. What happens to the "in love" state?  What happens to this complete bliss and elation ? If you ask psychologists or scientists they will tell you that the "in love' feeling is caused by a chemical reaction in the brain and can not be sustained long term. Eventually,  all relationships descend into the mundane and ordinary.  Often past wounds, weaknesses and shadow aspects of the personality begin to play out in relation to the lover through conflict, turmoil or break ups. Some couples go through cycles of love and hate, with highs and lows that have to do with sexual or emotional dependence and a deep rooted fear of loss or abandonment of the lover. For many love relationships become a search to fulfill unmet needs - a need to be validated, a need to be important, a need to be attractive, a need to be adored, a need to belong, a need to be physically loved, a need to be heard.....etc. After a period of time, most lovers will find that their needs are not met in the love relationship,  in fact they are constantly finding fault and blaming each other for their lack of satisfaction in love.

For those who are working on conscious love, or spiritual awakening in relationships, love begin to reflect a sacred opportunity to transform, grow and experience enlightenment. It is no longer about fulfilling some sort of need or wants of being loved and accepted .  It becomes about reaching a place of inner peace and understanding  dictated by a desire to Love.  In this kind of enlightened love,  there is a deep honoring of the other. Lovers share a connection without attachments . They share a pure love without conditions and reach a point of full acceptance of the other as they are. Loving consciously is liberating as it does not stem from ego, it comes directly from the soul.  It is a state of higher consciousness, where lovers become aware of each others feelings and needs without speaking, where the merging becomes on a level of the soul.

In the Power of Now,  Eckhart Tolle, speaks of enlightened relationships as the future. He envisions relationships without pain and suffering, that are founded on mutual respect and higher love. These relationships can be sustained by working on presence with each other, working on a spiritual connection through Love. He writes " Love is a state of being. Your love is not outside, it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you. it is not dependent on some other body, some external form. . What is love ? To feel the presence of that one Life deep within yourself and within all creatures...." .  In the moment of presence,  we can all connect to our soul, which can recognize any other soul with Love and compassion. This sacred part of us does not see separation or lack. It manifests during inner stillness, presence and full acceptance of all that is in the moment. The realization of union and oneness with all, is the realization of the state of Love. From that place we can choose to be in an enlightened relationship and feel the love as an exchange between two lovers or stay in that state without a partner connecting to all beings through loving kindness. Ultimately in a state of enlightened or higher love,  we become containers of a pure energy that can be collected and maintained with intention and effort to live in the now. We can be present to ourselves and our beloved. There lies the possibility  - We can stay in Love indefinitely !

Love's Visit

Love entered me,
through the doorway of my heart,
like a gust of wind 
that breaks through a shut window pane.

I became breathless and dizzy 
with the force of Love's power.

It was like an unexpected visit 
from a Beloved guest
who arrived in His full glory, 
bringing gifts of unimaginable beauty.

I was stunned, 
without words, 
falling to my knees, 
surrendering in awe...

My body trembled and my being 
was filled with love and excitement.

How powerful is this force of Love.... 
I was swept away in a gust of ecstasy 
in a whirlwind of confusion.

My Beloved, testing my love, 
stretching my capacity 
to withstand His presence, 
expanding my heart.

Rilke and Salome

Rainer Maria Rilke was a great German poet, mystic and philosopher who wrote about the journey within, and the importance of Love in a man's life. He was influenced by his love for Lou Andreas Salome. 

Some of his famous quotes on Love:

".... believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it."

"Love is a high inducement to the individual to ripen, to become something in himself, to become world for himself for another's sake, it is a great exacting claim upon him, something that chooses him out and calls him to vast things." 

"We need, in love, to practice only this: letting each other go. For holding on comes easily; we do not need to learn it." 


"It is part of the nature of every definitive love, that sooner or later it can reach the beloved only in infinity."

In his love letters to Salome, Rilke writes:

Then your letter brought me its gentle benediction

And I knew there are no distant places:

From all that's beautiful you come towards me

You my spring breeze, my summer rain,

My June night with its many thousand paths

None before me was blessed to tread:

I am alive in you !

From a poem dedicated to Salome:

For I don't think back; all that I am
stirs me because of you. I don't invent you
at sadly cooled-off places from which
you've gone away; even your not being there
is warm with you and more real and more
than a privation. Longing leads out too often
into vagueness. Why should I cast myself, when,
for all I know, your influence falls on me,
gently, like moonlight on a window seat.

Sheherazade Part I

Scheherazade knew what it meant to spend a night with the prince. Everybody in Sumeria where she lived her whole life knew that prince Akbar, after a first night of temptation, would send the woman to prison and never see her again.

Ahhh every time she thought of the prince, her heart beat faster, her breath was held in her breast... She remembered the first time she saw the prince… She was couple of years younger and finally her father would let her watch the parade where the king and his family greeted the public every year on the celebration of the crown.

She remembers the day exactly, it was a summer day, the 1st of july. The scent of jasmine and honeysuckle were in the air. It was a clear blue sky and she was wearing her favorite red dress where her perfectly shaped shoulders invited the rays of sun like a passionate lover. She was mixed in the crowd waiting for him. She had heard about the prince before but never saw him close up. As she elevated herself tiptoeing, she first saw the royal carriage. It was adorned with red and gold rubies. Four beautiful horses were galloping in synchronicity and the king with his queen were greeting the public. How beautiful she thought as she moved her hips right and left to find the spot for a perfect view to see the prince.

Prince Akbar was right behind the king and queen's carriage, he was on a white horse wearing a cape with red and gold trim. He had a half smile on his face. His silver, black hair was shining under the noon sun. He had his right hand up to greet the crowd. Scheherazade was mesmerized... the scent in the air, the heat of the July sun, the prince on a white horse..She almost fainted. She had never seen such a handsome man in her life. She felt a heat wave going through her entire body.

The prince was carrying a sword that was touching his leg. Every step of the horse the sword was reflecting the rays of the sun and it caught Sheherazade's eye. Then right at that moment, for a split second, the prince turned his head to the right and saw her. The time stopped for Scheherazade. She was in the eternity. Her soul joined his soul as her heart was looking for his...she could barely stand up, her legs were shaking and she was gasping for a breath of air. Her heart was pumping hard and her whole being was high, elated. She felt his presence in her heart. The gates to her heart opened up and a golden light filled it up with love like she never felt before, she felt dizzy. To Be continued......

How many times?

How many times we tell to each other
‘I Love You’?

So many times!

And yet we know that even if we repeat
‘I Love You’

Each day
for one million times,

It will still not be enough
to mirror the Love that we feel
in our Hearts and Souls

The Meaning of Love By Rumi

Both light and shadow
are the dance of Love.
Love has no cause;
it is the astrolabe of God’s secrets.
Lover and Loving are inseparable
and timeless.

Although I may try to describe Love
when I experience it I am speechless.
Although I may try to write about Love
I am rendered helpless;
my pen breaks and the paper slips away
at the ineffable place
where Lover, Loving and Loved are one.

Every moment is made glorious
by the light of Love.

Heloise and Abelard

Heloise and Abelard’s love story is a story of passion, loss, separation and the triumph of a higher love that unites lovers into eternity. Heloise lived in the 12^th century and was the niece of a canon of the Notre Dame of Paris named Fulbert. Abelard was a reputable scholar and was hired by Heloise’s uncle to be her private tutor. Heloise was intelligent and beautiful and Abelard who was 18 years her senior, was a brilliant philosopher and theologian.  They had an instant connection and strong physical attraction to each other. Heloise was taken by his brilliance and knowledge. Abelard met an intellectual match and a great beauty. They had fallen deeply in love with each other and their forbidden love affair lead to scandalous and tragic consequences.  Fulbert who was both jealous and possessive of his niece, discovered the affair when Heloise became pregnant. He was infuriated and sent Heloise off to a convent, where she stayed for the remainder of her life. In his vengeance towards Abelard, Fulbert hired a thug to attack and castrate him. Abelard whose reputation was already ruined went to serve in a monastery, deciding to dedicate his life to God and penitence for his sins.

Though Heloise and Abelard only saw each other briefly one more time,  they continued to correspond for another 20 years, leaving their Love letters as a testament to their undying love for each other,  while dedicating their life to God.

Here are some excerpts of their correspondence with each other.

Heloise writes

"Heloise! as long as thou drawest a breath it is decreed thou must love Abelard."  

“You know, beloved, as the whole world knows, how much I have lost in you, how at one wretched stroke of fortune that supreme act of flagrant treachery robbed me of my very self in robbing me of you..”

“Even into holy places before the altar I carry the memory of our love, and far from lamenting for having been seduced by pleasures, I sigh for having lost them. I remember (for nothing is forgot by lovers) the time and place in which you first declared your passion and swore you would love me till death. Your words, your oaths, are deeply graven in my heart. My stammering speech betrays to all the disorder of my mind; my sighs discover me, and your name is ever on my lips. O Lord! when I am thus afflicted why dost not Thou pity my weakness and strengthen me with Thy grace? “

Abelard writes

“I promise myself that I will forget you, and yet cannot think of it without loving you. My love is not at all lessened by those reflections I make in order to free myself. “

"I incessantly seek for you in my mind; I recall your image in my memory, and in different disquietudes I betray and contradict myself. I hate you! I love you! “

" I continually think of you; I continually call to mind your tenderness. In this condition, O Lord! if I run to prostrate myself before your altar, if I beseech you to pity me, why does not the pure flame of the Spirit consume the sacrifice that is offered? Cannot this habit of penitence, which I wear interest Heaven to treat me more favorably? But Heaven is still inexorable because my passion still lives in me; the fire is only covered over with deceitful ashes, and cannot be extinguished but by extraordinary grace. "

In their letters they continue to express an outpouring of their love towards each other, seeking wisdom and understanding. In one letter Abelard questions how Heloise could continue to be in Love with him, when he is no longer able to make love to her.  She replied that she loved him from a higher part in herself where her love was a permanent resident and was beyond sexual desire or contact. They continued to live in each other’s soul and memories and their letters continued to fuel the flames of their hearts. They both recognized that the powerful energy of their love was propelling their very existence. It became the kind of love that did not require physical presence, or sexual union to stay alive and continue to grow. It was a Divine Love where they felt the union of their souls until their last days on earth.

Several hundred years later, Josephine Bonaparte who was inspired by their love story decided to exhume their bodies so that they could be buried together. Until today, lovers pay homage to this famous couple at the well-known tomb in the cemetery of Pere Lachaise near Paris.

May their story continue to inspire all of us to honor and cherish Love.

On Love

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Kahlil Gibran on Love

Stay in Love

In the realms of sacred Love, there is not space for feelings of attachment, no space for fear or doubts, these feelings are part of the human nature and create limits to the evolution of Love.

Surrendering, accepting, detaching ... no thoughts about the future or about the past, only gratitude for the Higher Energy that comes when in Union with the Beloved … that is the fuel that our souls need to reach the Highest Realms and stay in Love.

A Muse of Love

There are men and women in this world who serve as catalysts of love.   They become the muse that resides in our hearts throughout our lives and may never materialize into becoming our lovers. The best example of this type of love is the love that Dante had towards Beatrice, whom he loved secretly. His love for her continued to grow and he offered the world an outpouring of timeless writing as an honoring to his love for her. A muse of love is like an inner lover that offers a glimpse of hope that Love can exist, beyond the physical expression between lovers. It is like an energy source that can pulsate in our hearts, lift our spirits and  inspire our true expression of ourselves. It is the kind of love that does not create an offspring but a new life in the heart. A heart awakend by a muse creates a sacred space for the Lover to grow through inner bliss and deep longing.

" Love has pierced with its arrow the heart of every lover". Rumi

By Invitation from Venus

I enter the Temple of Love, a solitary traveler

By Invitation from Venus

I am beckoned to come forward

to kneel beside her and offer my heart

I am lead through a maze of halls

with dazzling lights, and gentle whispers

Souls of lovers speaking words of love to each other

I am melting in bliss

I anticipate the calling to my Beloved

At then end of my walk, guided by Venus

I enter A space with Cathedral ceilings

Open windos with streaming sunlight

Doves flying freely, silence

My heart is racing, overflowing with Love

He is there waiting for me

Dressed in white, glowing with light

He does not speak

His eyes convey love and tenderness

I am weak, almost defeated by this Force of Love

My heart is bursting in flames as I approach him

He smiles at me and extends out his hand

I reach for him and our fingertips touch

A shock of electricity enters my body

I feel dizzy with Love

Our lips touch and our bodies disappear into light

Melting into each other, each cell merging with each other

We become one Light dancing in a spiral towards the Heavens

Our Love Becomes One Being of Light

We rise towards the Kingdom of God

as One Force of Light

Merging with the Stars, the Galaxies, with Eternity

There the Collective Love of Other Lovers 

Is Like a Limitless Ocean, We are All Together

United in Ecstasy There is no longer I or Him

or Them, We are inside God. Inside the Love of God.

Sound Filled Silence

 

In the sound filled silence I look for you

The movement of life passes right through me

Nothing lingers, no thought, no sound, no vision

In the stillness of my breath

I become a soft veil of light

All enters me and I traverse time

 

As you gracefully accept my call to you

To share this moment of eternity

You open your winged heart to embrace me

 

In this sublime union there is no separation

Light merges with light

An exuberant play of spiraling flickers

A swelling, powerful surge of Love

Rising towards the heavens in a dance

Celebrating remembrance and Love’s triumph.

 

Introducing this Blog

This blog was created as an offering to the expression of love, love stories and conscious and devotional literature about love between lover and the beloved and between the soul and God. Whether it is expressed in the sacred poetry of the Sufi mystics, or the great love letters of Heloise and Abelard or Dante's chronicles of his love for Beatrice, it is inspirational and humbling to experience and to aspire to love from the highest place in our being.

This Temple of Love is a sacred space for sharing personal poetry and writings,  as well as the quotes and writings of others who have left their imprint in our hearts about states of love. To serve Love in this way is to delve into its mystery and to offer a sanctification to the most sought after human experience. Love is nourishment for our soul - to fall in love, to love another, to love God , or humanity - all these expressions of love fall in the realms of offerings for Temple of Love. I am here,  a humble servant hoping to share, inspire and nourish this Love through writing. My greatest inspiration in devotional poetry is Hafiz....I start this blog with a poem from this beloved Sufi master.

THE LUTE WILL BEG


You need to become a pen
In the Sun´s hand.

We need for the earth to sing
Through our pores and eyes.

The body will again become restless
Until your soul paints all its beauty
Upon the sky.

Don´t tell me, dear ones,
That what Hafiz says is not true,

For when the heart tastes its glorious destiny
And you awake to our constant need
for your love
God´s lute will beg
For your hands.

Hafiz