ONLY BREATH

Not Christian or Jew or
Muslim, not Hindu,
Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen.

Not any religion

or cultural system.

I am not from the east
or the west, not
out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not
natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all.

I do not exist,

am not an entity in this
world or the next,
did not descend from
Adam and Eve or any

origin story.

My place is
the placeless, a trace
of the traceless.

Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved,
have seen the two
worlds as one and
that one
call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner,
only that breath breathing

human being.

-Rumi

The Soul Cries- Imam Ali

Holy Qur'an

From surah 12 (Yusuf):

[12:103] And most of the people, although you strive [for it], are not believers.
[12:104] And you do not ask of them for it any payment. It is not except a reminder to the worlds.
[12:105] And how many a sign within the heavens and earth do they pass over while they, therefrom, are turning away.

http://quran.com/12

YOU ASK ME- RUMI

I WAS DEAD

I was dead
I came alive
I was tears
I became laughter

all because of love
when it arrived
my temporal life
from then on
changed to eternal

love said to me
you are not
crazy enough
you don't
fit this house

I went and
became crazy
crazy enough
to be in chains

love said
you are not
intoxicated enough
you don't
fit the group

I went and
got drunk
drunk enough
to overflow
with light-headedness

love said
you are still
too clever
filled with
imagination and skepticism

I went and
became gullible
and in fright
pulled away
from it all

love said
you are a candle
attracting everyone
gathering every one
around you

I am no more
a candle spreading light
I gather no more crowds
and like smoke
I am all scattered now

love said
you are a teacher
you are a head
and for everyone
you are a leader

I am no more
not a teacher
not a leader
just a servant
to your wishes

love said
you already have
your own wings
I will not give you
more feathers

and then my heart
pulled itself apart
and filled to the brim
with a new light
overflowed with fresh life

now even the heavens
are thankful that
because of love
I have become
the giver of light

-Rumi

The present moment...

The past is an interpretation. The futue is an illusion. The world does not move through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead time moves through and within us, in endless spirals. Eternity does not mean infinite time, but simply timelessness.
If you want to experience eternal illumination, put the past and the future out of your mind and remain within the present moment. The present moment is all there is and all there ever will be. When you grasp this truth, you´ll have nothing to fear anymore.
                                                                                                                                - Shams of Tabriz

Whirling Dervishes