True Love

"Love is essentially self-communicative : those who do not have it catch it from those who have it. 

Those who receive love from others cannot be its recipients without giving a response, 

which, in itself, is the nature of Love. 

True Love is unconquerable and irresistible. 

It goes on gathering power and spreading itself until eventually it transforms everyone it touches."

~Meher Baba

 

Love Itself

'Whether you have loved a human being or whether you have loved God, if you have loved enough you will be brought in the end into the presence of the supreme Love itself.'

Rumi

Death of Beatrice

Beyond the sphere that circles most widely

passes the sigh that issues from my heart:

new intelligence, that Love

weeping instills within it, drives it upwards.

When it is near where it desires,

it sees a lady, who receives honour,

and is a light, that by its splendour

the pilgrim spirit can gaze upon her.

Seeing her such, when it says so to me,

I do not understand, it speaks so subtly

to the grieving heart, which makes it speak.

I know it speaks of that gentle one,

since it often  mentions Beatrice,

so that I know it truly, ladies dear to me.

After writing this sonetto a miraculous vision appeared to me, in which I saw things which made me decide to write nothing more of this blessed one until such time as I could treat of her more worthily.

    And to achieve this I study as much as I can, as she truly knows. So that, if it pleases Him by whom all things live, that my life lasts a few years, I hope to write of her what has never been written of any woman.

    And then may it be pleasing to Him who is the Lord of courtesy, that my soul might go to see the glory of its lady, that is of that blessed Beatrice, who gloriously gazes on the face of Him qui est per omnia secula benedictus: who is blessed throughout all the ages.

One Whisper

One Whisper of the Beloved

Lovers share a sacred decree –

to seek the Beloved.

They roll head over heels,

rushing toward the Beautiful One

like a torrent of water.

In truth, everyone is a shadow of the Beloved –

Our seeking is His seeking,

Our words are His words.

At times we flow toward the Beloved

like a dancing stream.

At times we are still water

held in His pitcher.

At times we boil in a pot

turning to vapor –

that is the job of the Beloved.

He breathes into my ear

until my soul

takes on His fragrance.

He is the soul of my soul –

How can I escape?

But why would any soul in this world

want to escape from the Beloved?

He will melt your pride

making you thin as a strand of hair,

Yet do not trade, even for both worlds,

One strand of His hair.

We search for Him here and there

while looking right at Him.

Sitting by His side we ask,

“O Beloved, where is the Beloved?”

Enough with such questions! 

Let silence take you to the core of life.

All your talk is worthless

When compared to one whisper

of the Beloved.

--Rumi

Open Road

From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,

Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,

Listening to others, considering well what they say,

Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,

Gently,but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

I inhale great draughts of space,

The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.

I am larger, better than I thought,

I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me,

I can repeat over to men and women You have done such good to me I would do the same to you,

I will recruit for myself and you as I go,

I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,

I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,

Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,

Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.

Walt Whitman

Heart to Heart

"Love has to spring spontaneously from within; it is in no way amenable to any form of inner or outer force. 

Love and coercion can never go together; but while love cannot be forced upon anyone, it can be awakened through love itself.

Love is essentially self-communicative; those who do not have it catch it from those who have it. 

Those who receive love from others cannot be its recipients without giving a response that, in itself, is the nature of love.

True love is unconquerable and irresistible. 

It goes on gathering power and spreading itself until eventually it transforms everyone it touches. Humanity will attain a new mode of being and life through the free and unhampered interplay of pure love from heart to heart."
Meher Baba

Unbreakable

Unbreakable, O Lord,

Is the love

That binds me to You:

Like a diamond,

It breaks the hammer that strikes it.

My heart goes into You

As the polish goes into the gold.

As the lotus lives in its water,

I live in You.

Like the bird

That gazes all night

At the passing moon,

I have lost myself dwelling in You.

O my Beloved Return.

- Mirabai

Flame of Love

O living flame of love
That tenderly wounds my soul
In its deepest center! Since
Now you are not oppressive,
Now consummate! if it be your will:
Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
That tastes of eternal life
And pays every debt!
In killing you changed death to life.

O lamps of fire!

in whose splendors
The deep caverns of feeling,
Once obscure and blind,
Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
Both warmth and light to their Beloved.

How gently and lovingly
You wake in my heart,
Where in secret you dwell alone;
And in your sweet breathing,
Filled with good and glory,
How tenderly You swell my heart with love.

St. John of the Cross

Conscious Love

Conscious Love begets love of a like kind.

Conscious Love wishes that the loved object should arrive at it's own native perfections, regardless of the consequences to the lover.

The paradox: It always evokes the same love in the beloved. This type is rare among us.

~George Gurdieff

For My soul Yearns for you

I make pleasant songs, and weave verses/
Because for You my soul longs.
My soul desires to be in Your hand’s shade/
To know all of Your deepest mystery.[1]

When I speak of Your Glory
My heart yearns for your love.
Therefore I will speak of Your Glories
And Your Name I will glorify in songs of love.
I will recount Your Glory, though I have not seen You
I describe You though I have not known You.
He beautifies Himself through me, because He desires me
And He shall be for me a crown of beauty.
May my contemplation be sweet to You

for my soul yearns for You. King Solomon

I Vote For You

When your eyes have found the strength 

To constantly speak to the world

All that is most dear

to your own Life

When your hands, feet and tongue

can perform in that rare unison

that comforts this longing earth

with the knowledge.

Your soul, 

Your soul has been groomed

In His city of love;

And when you can make other laugh

with jokes

that belittle no one

and your words always unite,

Hafiz Does vote for you.

Hafiz will vote for you to be 

The minister of every country

in this Universe.

Hafiz does vote for you my dear.

I vote for you to be 

God.

Hafiz

I Want a Lot

You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each ascent.

So many are alive who don't seem to care.
Casual, easy, they move in the world
as though untouched.

But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst.
You cherish those
who grip you for survival.

Rilke

Be Not Grieved

“Although you have not received love’s guerdon,

One day this desert will become a garden

—so be not grieved.

Do not turn your heart away, nor expostulate

Against the Beloved, but bear your present state

—and be not grieved.

Let this disgusted mind and troubled heart be stilled,

One day desire for union will be fulfilled

—so be not grieved.

Behind the curtain a secret game is being played

That you know not, so don’t give up, nor be dismayed

—nor grieved.

Once you have set out for the Beloved’s abode

Do not let mere stones and thorns turn you from the road

—nor be much grieved.

Maya will do her best to thwart your labour,

But when you have a captain like Noah you will reach safe harbour

—so be not grieved.

Although the way is full of dangers and seems to have no end,

There is an end to every beginning with this Friend

—so be not grieved.

When this Friend is the same as God, don’t plague him with petitions,

But suffer gladly love’s rules, trials and conditions

—and be not grieved



~Hafiz

A lover's call

Where are you, my beloved? Are you in that little 

Paradise, watering the flowers who look upon you 

As infants look upon the breast of their mothers? 

Or are you in your chamber where the shrine of 

Virtue has been placed in your honor, and upon 

Which you offer my heart and soul as sacrifice? 

Or amongst the books, seeking human knowledge, 

While you are replete with heavenly wisdom? 

Oh companion of my soul, where are you? Are you 

Praying in the temple? Or calling Nature in the 

Field, haven of your dreams? 

Are you in the huts of the poor, consoling the 

Broken-hearted with the sweetness of your soul, and 

Filling their hands with your bounty? 

You are God's spirit everywhere; 

You are stronger than the ages. 

Do you have memory of the day we met, when the halo of 

You spirit surrounded us, and the Angels of Love 

Floated about, singing the praise of the soul's deed? 

Do you recollect our sitting in the shade of the 

Branches, sheltering ourselves from Humanity, as the ribs 

Protect the divine secret of the heart from injury? 

Remember you the trails and forest we walked, with hands 

Joined, and our heads leaning against each other, as if 

We were hiding ourselves within ourselves? 

Recall you the hour I bade you farewell, 

And the Maritime kiss you placed on my lips? 

That kiss taught me that joining of lips in Love 

Reveals heavenly secrets which the tongue cannot utter! 

That kiss was introduction to a great sigh, 

Like the Almighty's breath that turned earth into man. 

That sigh led my way into the spiritual world, 

Announcing the glory of my soul; and there 

It shall perpetuate until again we meet. 

I remember when you kissed me and kissed me, 

With tears coursing your cheeks, and you said, 

"Earthly bodies must often separate for earthly purpose, 

And must live apart impelled by worldly intent. 

"But the spirit remains joined safely in the hands of 

Love, until death arrives and takes joined souls to God. 

"Go, my beloved; Love has chosen you her delegate; 

Over her, for she is Beauty who offers to her follower 

The cup of the sweetness of life. 

As for my own empty arms, your love shall remain my 

Comforting groom; you memory, my Eternal wedding." 

Where are you now, my other self? Are you awake in 

The silence of the night? Let the clean breeze convey 

To you my heart's every beat and affection. 

Are you fondling my face in your memory? That image 

Is no longer my own, for Sorrow has dropped his 

Shadow on my happy countenance of the past. 

Sobs have withered my eyes which reflected your beauty 

And dried my lips which you sweetened with kisses. 

Where are you, my beloved? Do you hear my weeping 

From beyond the ocean? Do you understand my need? 

Do you know the greatness of my patience? 

Is there any spirit in the air capable of conveying 

To you the breath of this dying youth? Is there any 

Secret communication between angels that will carry to 

You my complaint? 

Where are you, my beautiful star? The obscurity of life 

Has cast me upon its bosom; sorrow has conquered me. 

Sail your smile into the air; it will reach and enliven me! 

Breathe your fragrance into the air; it will sustain me! 

Where are you, me beloved? 

Oh, how great is Love! 

And how little am I! 

Khalil Gibran

“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.” Rilke...

Essence of this Joy

" But you who are so happy here, tell me:

do you aspire to a more profound

insight, or a greater ecstasy ?"

She smiled a little, as did the shades beside her

then answered with such gladness that her whole

being seemed to glow with love's first fire:

"Brother , God's generosity itself

calms our will, and makes us want no more

than what we have, and long for nothing else.

If we desired any greater bliss,

we would not be in harmony with Him

whose love assigns us to a lower place.

The essence of this joy is that we all

have given up our personal desires

so that our will is merged with Gods own will.

Therefore our rank in heaven, from height to height,

is just as dear to each particular soul

as to the Master who appointed it.

In His will is our peace: it is the sea

into which all currents and all streams

empty themselves, for all eternity," Dante

They Way You Can Get

I Know The Way You Can Get

I know the way you can get

When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,

Your sweet muscles cramp.

Children become concerned

About a strange look that appears in your eyes

Which even begins to worry your own mirror

And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness

And call an important conference in a tall tree.

They decide which secret code to chant

To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness

That arrays itself against the world

And throws sharp stones and spears into

The innocent

And into one's self.

O I know the way you can get

If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart

Every sentence your friends and teachers say,

Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale

Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure

From every angle in your darkness

The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once

Trusted.

I know the way you can get

If you have not had a drink from Love's

Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of

The vital need

To keep remembering God,

So you will come to know and see Him

As being so Playful

And Wanting,

Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:

Bring your cup near me.

For all I care about

Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about

Is giving Love!