THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they´re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture, still,

treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

Always check your inner state

with the lord of your heart.

Copper doesn´t know it´s copper,

until it´s changing to gold.

Your loving doesn´t know majesty,

until it knows its helplessness.

-Rumi

ASCENDING TO HEAVEN

Hell is the here and now. So is heaven. Quit worrying about hell or dreaming about heaven, as they are both present inside this very moment. Every time we fall in love, we ascend to heaven. Every time we hate, envy, or fight someone, we tumble straight into the fires of hell.

Is there a worse hell than the torment a man suffers when he knows deep down in his conscience that he has done something wrong, awfully wrong? Ask that man. He will tell you what hell is. Is there a better paradise than the bliss that desends upon a man at those rare moments in life when the bolts of the universe fly upon and he feels in possession of all the secrets of eternity and fully united with God? Ask that man. He will tell you what heaven is.

Why worry so much about aftermath, an imaginary future, when this very moment is the only time we can truly and fully experience both the presence and the absence of God in our lives? Motivated by neither the fear of punishment in hell nor the desire to be rewarded in heaven, Sufis love God simply because the love Him, pure and easy, untainted and nonnegotiable.

Love is the reason. Love is the goal.

And when you love God so much, when you love each and every one of His creations because of Him and thanks to Him, extraneous categories melt into thin air. From that point on, there can be no "I" anymore. All you amount to is a zero so big it covers your whole being.

                       -Shams of Tabriz, from the book "The Forty Rules of Love"

THE THIRD EYE...

When a true lover of God goes into a tavern, the tavern becomes his chamber of prayer, but when a wine bibber goes into the same chamber, it becomes his tavern. In everything we do, it is our hearts that make the difference, not our outer appearances. Sufis do not judge other people on how they look or who they are. When a sufi stares at someone, he keeps both eyes closed and instead opens a third eye- the eye that sees the inner realm.

                           -Shams of Tabriz, from the book "The Forty Rules of Love"

QUIETNESS

Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an ax to the prison wall.
Escape. Walk out like someone
suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You´re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side.
Die, and be quiet.
Quietness is the surest
sign that you´ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.

The speechless full moon comes out now.

                                                   -Rumi

YOUR DEFECTS

An empty mirror and your worst destructive habits,
when they are held up to each other,
that´s when the real making begins.
That´s what art and crafting are.

A tailor needs a torn garment to practice his expertise.
The trunks of trees must be cut and cut again
so they can be used for fine carpentry.

Your doctor must have a broken leg to doctor.
Your defects are the ways that glory gets manifested.

                                                                               -Rumi

I SWEAR MY DEAR SON

I swear my dear son
No one in the entire world is as precious as you are
Look at that mirror, take a good look at yourself
Who else is there above and beyond you


Now give yourself a kiss and
with sweet whispers fill your ears to the brim
Watch for all that beauty reflecting from you
and sing a love song to your existence


You can never overdo
prising your own soul
You can never overpamper
your heart


You are both the father and the son,
the sugar and the sugar cane
Who else but you, please tell me
who else can ever take your place


Now give yourself a smile
What is the worth of a diamond if it doesn´t shine
How can I ever put a price on the diamond that you are


You are the entire treasure of the house
You and your shadow are forever present in this world
You´r that glorious bird of paradise


                                                    -RUMI

TWO DAYS OF SILENCE

After days of feasting, fast.
After days of sleeping, stay awake one night.
After these times of bitter storytelling, joking,
and serious considerations, we should give ourselves
two days between layers of baklava in the quiet seclusion
where soul sweetens and thrives more than with language.

I hear nothing in my ear but your voice.
Heart has plundered mind of its eloquence.

Love writes a transparent calligraphy, so on
the empty page my soul can read and recollect.

Which is worth more, a crowd of thousands,
or your own genuine solitude?
Freedom, or power over an entire nation?

A little while alone in your room
will prove more valuable than anything else
that could ever be given you.

                                                                 -Rumi

YOU AND I

A moment of happiness,

you and I sitting on the verandah,

apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.

We feel the flowing water of life here,

you and I, with the garden´s beauty and the birds singing.

The stars will be watching us,

and we will show them

what it means to be a thin crescent moon.

You and I unselfed, will be together,

indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.

The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar

as we laugh together, you and I.

And what is even more amazing

is that while here together, you and I

are at this very moment in Iraq and Khorasan.

In one form upon this earth,

and in another form in a timeless sweet land.

-Rumi



Time...

Time is just an illusion.

What you need is to live this very moment.

That is all that matters.

-Shams of Tabriz

Be thankful!

Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been denied.

                                                                                                       -Shams of Tabriz

Come on sweetheart- Rumi

Come on sweetheart

Let´s adore one another

Before there is no more

Of you and me

IF YOU STAY AWAKE

If you stay awake

for an entire night

watch out for a treasure

trying to arrive

You can keep warm

by the secret sun of the night

keeping your eyes open

for the softness of dawn

Try it for tonight

challenge your sleepy eyes

do not lay your head down

wait for heavenly alms

Night is the bringer of gifts

Moses went on a ten year journey

during a single night

invited by a tree

to watch the fire and light

Mohammed too made his passage

during that holy night

when he heard the glorious voice

when he ascended to the sky

Day is to make a living

night is only for love

commoners sleep fast

lovers whisper to God all night

All night long

a voice calls upon you

to wake up

in the precious hours

If you miss

your chance now

your soul will lament

when your body is left behind

-Rumi

RESTLESS

restless

now I go to the door

now I go to the roof

till I see your face

I´ll never know rest

neighbors speak of me

when you are away

as meek or mad

but when you return

everything subsides

this heart of mine

tears itself apart

and seeks no joy

but only wants to know

when you´ll arrive

but when you return

and a wine-server is around

I hold a cup

fondle your hair and

caress your face

just come and see me

letting go of my wish

letting go of my pilgrimage

keeping one wish in my heart

making love to your desires

-Rumi

Looking for your face...

When I was a child...

When I was a child, I saw God,
I saw angels;
I watched the mysteries of the higher and lower worlds. I thought all men saw
the same. At last I realized that they did not see...
                                                                            -Shams of Tabriz

THE ASCENDING SOUL

I died as mineral and became a plant,

I died as plant and rose to animal,

I died as animal and I was Man.

Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?

Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar

With angels blest; but even from angelhood

I must pass on: all except God doth perish.

When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,

I shall become what no mind e´er conceived.

Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence

Proclaims in organ tones. "To him we shall return."

-Rumi

SONG OF THE REED

Listen to the reed and the tale it tells,
how it sings of separation:
Ever since they cut me from the reed bed,
my wail has caused men and women to weep.
I want a heart torn open with longing
to share the pain of this love.
Whoever has been parted from his source
longs to return to that state of union.
At every gathering I play my lament.
I´m a friend to both happy and sad.
Each befriended me for his own reasons,
yet none searched out the secrets I contain.
My secret is not different than my lament,
yet this is not for the senses to perceive.
The body is not hidden from the soul,
nor is the soul hidden from the body,
and yet the soul is not for everyone to see.
This flute is played with fire, not with wind,
and without this fire you would not exist.
It is the fire of love that inspires the flute.
It is the ferment of love that completes the wine.
The reed is a comfort to all estranged lovers.
Its music tears our veils away. Have you
ever seen a poison or antidote like the reed?
Have you seen a more intimate companion and lover?

It sings of the path of blood;
it relates the passion of Majnun.
Only to the senseless in this sense confided.
Does the tongue have any patron but the ear?
Our days grow more unseasonable,
these days which mix with grief and pain...
but if the days that remain are few,
let them go; it doesn´t matter. But You, You remain,
for nothing is as pure as You are.
All but the fish quickly have their fill of His water;
and the day is long without His daily bread.
The raw do not understand the state of the ripe,
so my words will be brief.

Break your bonds, be free, my child!
How long will silver and gold enslave you?
If you pour the whole sea into a jug,
will it hold more than one day´s store?
The greedy eye, like the jug, is never filled.
Until content, the oyster holds no pearl.
Only one who has been undressed by Love,
is free of defect and desire.
O Gladness, O Love, our partner is trade,
healer of all our ills, our Plato and Galen,
remedy of our pride and our vanity.

With love this earthly body could soar in the air;
the mountain could arise and nimbly dance.
Love gave life to Mount Sinai, O lover.
Sinai was drunk; Moses lost consciousness.
Pressed to the lips of one in harmony with myself,
I might also tell all that can be told;
but without a common tongue, I am dumb,
even if I have a hundred songs to sing.
When the rose is gone and the garden faded,
you will no longer hear the nightingale´s song.
The Beloved is all; the lover just a veil.
The Beloved is living; the lover a dead thing.
If Love withholds its strengthening care,
the lover is left like a bird without wings.
How will I be awake and aware
if the light of the Beloved is absent?
Love wills that this Word be brought forth.
If you find the mirror of the heart dull,
the rust has not been cleared from its face.
O friends, listen to this tale,
the marrow of our inward state.
                                                            -Rumi