Sufi Podcast | Spiritual-Health Sufi Reflections

Spiritual Health is a wonderfully rich website that gives expression to a variety of resources which are capable, God willing, of constructively affecting spiritual health. Through essays, articles, stories, novels, journals, and poems, this Spiritual Health web site critically explores an array of themes, ranging from: spiritual abuse to the Sufi Path (tasawwuf), mysticism, education, psychology, mind control, terrorism, ecology, Islam, the occult, political science, evolution, and much more.

PODCASTS // What is special about spiritual health site is the series of podcasts titled Sufi Reflections, which all are on average, about an hour in length. New programs are released on a regularly, irregular basis. The podcasts are full of insight and provide a source of nourishment for the spiritual development. They also emulate the effect of listening from the heart of a sufi master directly, rather than just reading book and pursuing bookish knowledge. Traditionally sufi teachings and guidance are always passed from heart to heart.

These podcasts vary in composition, but, among the themes and topics generally are: short stories, music, poems, essays, commentaries, interviews, and analysis ... all from a Sufi perspective, or, at least, all from the perspective of a Sufi who had the opportunity to be trained by an authentic Sufi Master. The subtle but beautiful music in the background is also very peaceful.

You can access all past Sufi Reflections podcasts from Podcast.net site here. The latest podcast is here.


:: About the author of Sufi Reflections podcast
Dr. Bill (Anab) Whitehouse was born in Denver, Colorado and grow up in various locations in Maine. After completing education in places like Harvard University, University of Toronto - Anab became interested in mysticism around 1970. After spending sometime with a Gurdjieff group, he stepped onto the Sufi Path, and, in the process became a Muslim.

His various interests includes sufism (tasawwuf), mysticism, spirituality, islam, psychology, philosophy etc. He wrote a number of books on Sufism. You can read about the books from Bilquees Press. You may also visit Anab Whitehouse's Sufi Amanesis Blog.

Resource: Sufi Reflections Podcast
:: Spiritual-Health
:: Sufi Books by Bilquees Press
:: Sufi Reflections podcast download
:: The RSS syndication link for Sufi Reflections

Technorati Tags: SufiPodcast Podcast Sufi Reflections SufiReflection Anab SpiritualHealth Spirituality

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Simple Sainthood

Know O friend,

in your very heart resides
the essence of simple sainthood
of which, we are all
God willing - capable.

You have the seed of possibilities
to be transformed
into a saint;
to be taken away
at Beloved's gate.

Arrive O friend, arrive!

To be a friend of God
there are no
restrictions imposed.

(c) MysticSaint | 27 Nov, 2006. Singapore

Dedicated to Sufi Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore.

Inspired by the introduction of Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore's poetry book where its written: COATTAILS OF THE SAINT - is a collection of poems which chase after the coattails of sanctity, in this world with its “meanings set up as images” (a Sufi definition of what we take around us as reality), and those souls living among us right now and forever who have had bestowed upon them that dimension of sanctity which sets them apart while making them at the same time true human beings. Imagination has given these poems a “saintly” thread, with no particular saint in any traditional pantheon meant, but rather that essence of simple sainthood of which we are all (God willing) capable.

Reference: Coattails of the Saint / Poems by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore
:: Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore Poetry
:: Read few sample poetry from GoogleBook. Pin It Now!

Study on Mansur Al Hallaj (5): Condemnation of al-Hallaj - a Political decision

Mansur Al Hallaj is still considered one of the most high ranked mystic that mankind have ever known. He was condemed to death. In moments of mystical ecstasy he used to utter the phrase, "Anal Haqq", which means "i am the truth". Truth (Haqq) being one of the name of God, it was considered blasphemous from the orthodox point of view. In popular perception, it is generally thought that Mansur, may God sanctify his mystery, was condemned to death for religious blasphemy. But many argue that its a political decision by those who didn't like him.

In a series of posts, i have tried to gather from different sources about Mansur's secret, what he really meant by "Anal Haqq" and why he was condemned to death. Here is another post on the series.

In the scholarly work by W. Montgomery Watt in A STUDY OF AL-GHAZALI writes,

"A glimpse of the state of affairs about 922 is provided by Louis Massignon’s study of the trial of al-Hallaj. The political background of this trial was the political struggle for the position of vizier, which was mainly a struggle between two families, that of Ibn-al-Furat (855-924) and `Ali ibn-`Isa (859-945). Massignon describes the former as tending to an “absolutist” position and having moderate Shiite sympathies and the latter as being “constitutional” and broadly Sunnite; that is to say, they represented what were called above the “autocratic and constitutionalist blocs”. It is further clear from Massignon’s study that the gadis or judges are mixed up in the politics of the time. Indeed the family of `Ali ibn-`Isa is one of scholar-jurists or religious intellectuals which has made its way into the class of “secretaries” or administrators. His grandfather, Da’ rid ibn `Ali (d. 884), was the founder of the Zahirite legal rite, while an uncle, Muhammad ibn-Da’ud (d. 910), was vizier for a day in 908.

Numerous details show that the religious intellectuals are now powerless against the vizier. It is their right to give legal opinions (fataws), but the vizier can choose between conflicting opinions - and did so in respect of the condemnation of al-Hallaj. One scholar-jurist, Ibn- Ata, a follower of al-Hallaj, who made a public statement approving of the latter’s creed, was roughly handled at the bidding of the vizier and beaten on the head with his own shoes until blood ran down his nostrils; whether as a consequence of this or not, he died a few days later.

Careful study of the condemnation of al-Hallaj seems to show that this was essentially a political decision."

the full paper is here.

. also Hallaj: Mystic and Martyr and Massignon

:: Previous and related posts
1. Mansur Al Hallaj : Studying
2. Study on Masur Al Hallaj (2)
3. Secrets of Mansur Al Hallaj and Reality
4. "I am the Truth" - what did Mansur Really meant?

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Meditative Quranic Verse 6: choose a way unto the Lord

faman shaa ittakhatha ila rabbihi sabeelan

Let him who will, then, choose a way unto his Lord!
The Quran 073.019


:: Previous posts on this series
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 1: God and Human heart
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 2: Overflowing Love
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 3: Divine Promise
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 4: Exclusive Devotion
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 5: We are in need Pin It Now!

YOU :: Sufi Poetry

. Misty Sunday morning .
Originally uploaded by 3amfromkyoto.

Wherever I traveled. You were manifested;
Wherever I looked. You were revealed.

In kaba, idol-temple, synagogue, and church, I saw
All were searching for You, and to all You were a Friend.

I sought only You in every person I met, every place I went;

You were in every sign, both the outer and the inner.
In the marketplace of love, it was revealed,
You were both the seller and the buyer.

In every heart whispering of love for an idol,
That idol was but a pretext: You were both heart and Beloved.

From pre-etemity to post-etemity throughout the universe,
You were all that was hidden or revealed, bountiful or scarce.

If You have bestowed light and stolen my heart and faith,
This is because You are heart, faith, and the Illuminator of all light.

- Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh


From the Sufi Journal, No. 40 / Winter 1998/99

Also published in Darvish Blog
http://darvish.wordpress.com/2006/10/23/you/
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Interesting Read: A Muslim in Victorian America

Dr. Abd-Allah recently completed a biography of Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (1846-1916), titled A Muslim in Victorian America: The Life of Alexander Russell Webb.

It is the first in-depth biography of Webb, a prominent American Muslim convert and founder of the first Islamic mission in America. It examines how Webb, as an American, negotiated both the tradition of Islam and Victorian American culture to live an active and engaged public life.

Webb was a central figure of American Islam during the late nineteenth and early twenties centuries. A native of the Hudson Valley, he was a journalist, editor, and civil servant. Raised a Presbyterian, Webb early on began to cultivate an interest in other religions and became particularly fascinated by Islam. While serving as U.S. consul to the Philippines in 1887, he took a greater interest in the faith and embraced it in 1888, becoming one of the first Americans known to have done so. Within a few years, he began corresponding with important Muslims in India. Webb became an enthusiastic propagator of the faith, founding the first Islamic institution in the United States: the American Mission. He wrote numerous books intended to introduce Islam to Americans, started the first Islamic press in the United States, published a journal entitled the Moslem World, and served as the representative of Islam at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religion in Chicago.

In this first-ever biography of Webb, Umar F. Abd-Allah examines Webb's life and uses it as a window through which to explore the early history of Islam in America. Except for his adopted faith, every aspect of Webb's life was, as Abd-Allah shows, quintessentially characteristic of his place and time. It is because he was so typically American that he was able to serve as Islam's ambassador to America (and vice versa). As American's Muslim community grows and becomes more visible, Webb's life and the virtues he championed - pluralism, liberalism, universal humanity, and a sense of civic and political responsibility - exemplify what it means to be an American Muslim.

The book is published by Oxford University Press and came off the press in August 2006.

"In this timely engaging book, Umar Abd-Allah brings to life an important but little-known figure in Victorian America. In an illuminating story of Alexander Webb, Abd-Allah shows how he navigated life as a prominent Muslim and an American with relative ease and without resistance from mainstream society. This work is an important lesson, not only for history buffs but for anyone interested in understanding contemporary times." - Geneive Abdo, author of Mecca and Main Street: Muslim Life in America after 9/11

About the Author
Umar F. Abd-Allah is the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence at the Nawawi Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation based in Chicago. Abd-Allah received his Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in 1978.

Credit: Nawawi Foundation Information about the book

More about Alexander Russel from Wikipedia Journey Life Sketch

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Unity and Plurality: Intermingling

You are plurality transformed into unity,
And Unity passing into plurality;
This mystery is understood when man
Leaves the part and merges in the Whole.


The Secret Rose Garden of Sa'd Ud Din Mahmud Shabistari
translated by Florence Lederer Pin It Now!

Wordpress Sufi Blogs | on Sufism and more

Wordpress has become a wonderful support platform for blog. There has been phenomenal increase of blogs hosted in wordpress. Notably many of the blogs are by people who are inspired by the esoteric dimension of Islam, namely sufism. Whether they are already on the path or they are aspirant - many of them are doing a great work about blogging on sufism. I am compiling a list of notable sufi blogs in wordpress here. With time i would like to update the list. If you know any good wordpress blog on sufistic theme, you are welcome to suggest as well.

Memories of Shamcher | This site is dedicated to the memory of Sufi Shamcher Bryn Beorse. Forest (Vakil) Shomer and Carol Still have put together many of Shamcher's documents in an archive and presenting some of these online in this blog. Shamcer was a contemporary of Sufi Murshid Samuel Lewis.

Darvish | A beautiful blog by the author of Sufi novel Master of the Jinn, Irving Karchmer. The author is also a darvish of Nimatullahi Sufi Order since 1992.

Jahane Rumi | a wonderfull and refreshing contents with diverse range of topics. Local flavors and Sufism blends beautifully.

The Realm of Remembrance | A very resourceful blog that focus a lot on Islam. Posts on spirituality and sufism are also featured.

Gently in the night | M. Shahin's blog on poetry, often on sufi theme. A very good resource blog for those who love poetry.

AnitSniveler | Michale Hawkins looking for ways to inspire to turn within for solutions to what’s going on externally. Becoming like child is a favorite post of mine.

Anony Sufi | Inspired to document the journey of an emerging Shadhili murid. By blogging on the process of the journey, the author hopes to benefit others who are treading the same or similar paths by sharing the experience. By uniting Seekers, we can learn from each other see how others deal with life issues while still trying to maintain a strong tie with God.

Age of Jahiliya | A blog on varities of matter, including tasawwuf and islam.

Contemplating Chisti | Some Guidance on Fiqh, ‘Aqida, Hadith, and the Words of the Righteous mixed with some spiritual ecstasy.

Parzifal's Blog | Parzifal is a seeker who wonders and wanders in the midst of the many masks of the Divine.

Tavellers on the path of knowledge | a blog worth checking. also hosting Carnival of Islam in the west.

Travelling through this world blindfolded | a blog that aspire to inspire

Hakkani | Blogging from the Osmanli Nakshibendi Dergah.

Abdur Rahman's Corner | a good resourceful blog on spirituality and more.

Allahu Alam | Blog on Islam and Tasawwuf.

Aftabzz | A relatively new blog

Traditionalist | A very well maintained blog by Faraz Rabbani on islamic spirituality and more. He is also a contributor of Sunni Path.

Sunni Log | Featuring a number of posts tagged sufism.

Poems from the Edge of the Continent | A blog with inspiring poems.

Alexandalus | On religion, philosophy etc.

Journey of a Travellar | a variety of interests.

with time i hope to add more sufi blogs here.

Find more wordpress blog with the tag Sufi and Sufism. Pin It Now!

Laughing Buddha, Weeping Sufi

That it is He who brings about both laughter and tears
- The Quran 53:42

Excess of sorrow laughs.
Excess of joy weeps.
- William Blake


“Inayat Khan smiled at me and asked, ‘Mr. Senzaki, will you tell me what the significance of Zen is? ’

I remained silent for a little while,
and then smiled at him.

He smiled back at me.
Our dialogue was over.”

- Sensei Senzaki describing his meeting with Sufi Inayat Khan.

In the book of poetry, Laughing Buddha, Weeping Sufi, the author, Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore's introduction is really enlightening. I couldn't resist but to share excerpts from it. He writes:

I first tasted real spiritual centering with Sensei Shunryu Suzuki, a great saintly Zen Master, in San Francisco in the early 1960s. He was a model of enlightenment. Always maintaining spiritual poise, light and easily inspired to a gentle laughter by whatever foible or sweetness was available to the world or his mind, but also deep and profound in his compassionate earnestness for our welfare and for the full “accomplishment” of our Zen practice.

Muslims occasionally express a reluctance about Buddhists because of their often professed disbelief in a single Divine God. But in one talk Suzuki gave he said that Buddhists don’t disbelieve in God, they simply don’t talk about it. Yet I always found their sutras and treatises to be filled with that exalted dimension I might now call “God-consciousness.”

And the positive proof of their spirituality, really, was in the radiance of their actions and in their caring for each other and the minute details of life with a real reverence that can only come from true spiritual teaching. Their “theism” is reflected more in their equanimity and openness, and their sense of a flexible immediacy to whatever the universe confronts them with.

Then when I became a Muslim in 1969 in Berkeley, California, I simultaneously entered a Sufi Tariqa whose Master, Sayyedina Shaykh Muhammd ibn al-Habib, lived in Meknes, Morocco. When I sat in his presence, may Allah be pleased with him, I was in the shadow of a giant mountain of light, an overflowing of that God consciousness, a manifestation of Allah’s Mercy, Compassion and Knowledge in human form, whose very proximity brought both tranquility and a sudden soul’s awakening, a deeper alertness.

And his disciples were people ... (who) saw Allah’s manifestation in everything, which in its way is not that distant from seeing the Buddha-nature in everything. Each is a way of being truly human in a transparent world of signs and meanings. But Allah is the Judge.

When these poems began insisting themselves in my frequent night vigils, I was struck by something a teacher of ours once said, that for the Buddhist enlightenment is a mental awakening, whose experience is that of a state of delighted or liberating laughter, a Satori flash of spacious detachment. While for a Sufi, enlightenment is more a bursting of the heart, fana, a total effacement in Allah, whose expression is more often tears, of ecstasy as well as, later, of grief over separation from that epiphany and a recognition of one’s momentous shortcomings before God.

This is not to say that the Buddhist enlightenment is not of the heart, nor that of the Sufi not also of the intellect. But generally speaking, the Buddhist laughs, the Sufis weeps: for both, that is the apex moment of the world.

Am I advocating a similarity of Paths between Buddhism and Islam? I’ve been a Muslim now for thirty-five years, and for me God’s statement in the Qur’an that Islam (or “submission to Divine Reality”) is the final revelation to mankind has made universal sense, in spite of modern betrayals by misguided Muslims. But we must have mutual respect and honor every worthy Path, and be supportive of any true and noble Way that leads people to stronger, sweeter, more peaceful and enlightened lives.

- Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

About the book, Laughing Buddha, Weeping Sufi | It is a cooly impassioned, and "pathward" adventurous series of poems joining two modes of enlightenment, Buddhist and Sufi, that may in many ways be parallel-from my sitting with saintly Shunryu Suzuki of the San Francisco Zen Center in the early 60s, and my blessed time with Qutb Shaykh ibn al-Habib of Fez in Meknes, Morocco, in the 1970s, may Allah be pleased with both of them. Are the two protagonists of these poems the main characters in Waiting for Godot, now no longer waiting, but there? Exalted humor lightens our spiritual endeavors.

# Related Reads:
* Why Buddha is so Special?
* Is there God in Buddhism?
* Om Mani Padme Hum | a Sufic Interpretation

References: Lulu | Read a preview | Googlebook | Daniel-Moore Poetry Pin It Now!

Meditative Quranic Verse 5: we are in need

... faminkum man yabkhalu waman yabkhal fa-innama yabkhalu AAan nafsihi waAllahu alghaniyyu waantumu alfuqarao

... but among you are those who are niggardly, and whoever is niggardly is niggardly against his own soul; and Allah is Self-sufficient and you are in need (of Him)
The Quran 047.038


:: Previous posts on this series
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 1: God and Human heart
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 2: Overflowing Love
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 3: Divine Promise
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 4: Exclusive Devotion Pin It Now!

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Sufi Trance
Originally uploaded by ali khurshid.

1.

We give thanks to You! Every soul and heart is lifted up to You, undisturbed name, honored with the name 'God' and praised with the name 'Father', for to everyone and everything (comes) the fatherly kindness and affection and love, and any teaching there may be that is sweet and plain, giving us mind, speech, (and) knowledge:

mind, so that we may understand You, speech, so that we may expound You, knowledge, so that we may know You.

We rejoice, having been illuminated by Your knowledge. We rejoice because You have shown us Yourself. We rejoice because while we were in (the) body, You have made us divine through Your knowledge.

The thanksgiving of the man who attains to You is one thing: that we know You. We have known You, intellectual light. Life of life, we have known You. Womb of every creature, we have known You. Womb pregnant with the nature of the Father, we have known You. Eternal permanence of the begetting Father, thus have we worshiped Your goodness. There is one petition that we ask: we would be preserved in knowledge. And there is one protection that we desire: that we not stumble in this kind of life.

from Nag Hammadi text | Gnostic Society Library

Note: the word 'womb' is interesting. God is called womb here. The word 'rahm' from where Allah (God) in Arabic is called Rahaman (or Rahman) is from the same root which also mean womb. It seems the translator also came across the same in Nag Hammadi text.

2.

O God, make us, through Your Mercy, among those who are thankful, O the Most Compassionate of the Compassionate!

Glory be to You! We have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

O God, bestow blessings and peace on our master Muhammad, the master of the thankful and the praising, and on all of his family and his Companions! Amen!

credit: The Duty of Thanksgiving | The way to truth
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on Thanksgiving | Message from the Quran

If ye are thankless, Truly God is independent of you; but He liketh not ingratitude from His servants: if ye are thankful, He is pleased with you.

No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another.

In the end, to your Lord is your Return, when He will tell you the truth of all that ye did (in this life). for He knoweth well all that is in the hearts.

The Quran | 039.007

There are numerous passages in the Quran where God ask mankind to be grateful and to give thanks to Almighty God. And offcourse God gives us the choice either to be grateful or ingrateful. We read:

Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him: So We gave him (the gifts), of Hearing and Sight.

Lo! We showed him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will). (76:2-3)

More in the context of Thanksgiving
:: Read about the Thanksgiving culture in the United States and Canada | :: The origin of American annual thanksgiving day | :: Timeline for american thanksgiving | :: Forgetting God and thanksgiving | :: The duty of Thanksgiving

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Thoughts on Beatitudes | Understanding the deeper meanings

The essence of all that can teach man to bring out the good in the soul of man is to be found in the Beatitudes as taught by Jesus Christ, the Murshid of murshids. And if anybody wants to see it practiced, he may go today and watch the life that the Sufis live in the East. It is they who have understood it properly and have practiced it to their utmost ability. Therefore, the real treasure of Christ's teaching is Sufism, although the latter is not called Christianity. However, the name makes no difference so long as the sense is right.

'Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 'Poor in spirit' means mild in ego, and the ego is by nature tyrannical. All the tyranny in the world is only caused by the ego. When the ego is laid before God, in other words, when the ego is illuminated with the knowledge of God, it begins to fade; for it denies its limited being and it realizes the being of God. So it loses all its tyranny, and becomes mild, which is being poor in spirit. This makes man's whole life heaven, both here and in the hereafter.

'Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.' All things are given to those who demand; only they deserve them, and only they can enjoy them. The infant cries when it is hungry, and it is given food, it is then that it enjoys it most. So it is with the lovers of God, with the seekers of truth. When their desire becomes so deep that it makes them mourn, it is then that they are comforted.

'Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.' There is a saying in Persian, 'If your word is sweet, you can win the world.' The world is too small when meekness can win even the hearts of men, for the heart can contain a thousand such worlds.

'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.' There are only two paths: the path of light and the path of darkness. The former leads to all joy, while the latter leads to all sorrow. Not everyone understands this, but the one who understands goes in pursuit of it, for he knows that the only sustenance of his soul is righteousness.

'Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.' The warmth of one's own feeling takes away the coldness from another person's heart. Therefore, one cannot receive mercy either from the earth or from heaven, unless one has oneself awakened mercy in one's soul.

'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.' This purity of heart is not only in thought, feeling, and action; it is the purity, which in the East is called Saf, from which the word Sufi is said to have come. This Saf makes the heart pure from all that is not God, in other words, the heart must see and realize all as God and God as all.

'Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.' Only those who make peace in life who are unbiased, unselfish, or impartial, and this is the nature of God, before whom all, rich or poor, foolish or wise, are equal. His mercy is upon all, and He bestows His gifts on all, both the deserving and the undeserving. Therefore, those who follow the way of the heavenly Father are really His deserving sons.

'Blessed are they, which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' It is easy to be righteous when everything is smooth in life, but when a person is tried it is difficult to keep to it. For the more righteous he is the more losses he has to suffer, and, though there may not seem to be any gain in righteousness, yet the reward of the righteous is heaven in the end.

'Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you .' this advice is not given only to the followers of Christ, but especially to the mureeds, whose murshid bears a message. It means that they can only prove worthy when their faith in the teaching of their teacher is so great that they stand by him and his teaching in all conditions, and suffer contentedly all that befalls them through the ignorance of man; for so it has been and will ever be with everyone who gives the message of truth.

- Sufi Inayat Khan | Credit: Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan

When you read the lines of Beatitude, know that the blessings flow for-ever. Know that it is Mighty Prophet Jesus who is even now when you read it, giving blessings to you. From the holy lips of Prophet Jesus, the blessing is given for all who hold it true in heart and strive according to it.

Ref: Wahiduddin.net | Beatitude in Wikipedia | Previous Post on Beatitude and fasting & Beatitude and Purification of Heart

:: Watch a beautiful presentation of Beatitudes Pin It Now!

War Most Sad and Miserable

War is a thing most sad and miserable.
A dirty secret which stains our beautiful world
with the horror of its crimson shame.
Amidst these horrors,
our instinct is to throw care-worn hands
over bruised eyes,
in a desperate attempt to veil our souls
from this pain.

We waste God’s blessings
on guns and bombs and tanks:
these dark dreams
are humanity’s guilty disgrace.
And, war’s darkest secret,
and most serious ill,
is its destruction of the human heart,
like a raving wolf
within the gentle sheep’s enclosure.
Vengeance is a dish best served cold.

No! And again, no!
Revenge is mortal poison,
whose accursed touch
only God’s Loving grace can master.
We must face these horrors
and not run:

‘Praise be to God in every condition’,
was the weapon with which the Prophets,
God’s peace be upon them all,
fought against corruption.
And we lesser folk
must strive with might and main
to do the same,
or lose all claim to humanity.
Atrocities must be faced
and justice given to all.
There is no other way
for people of conscience.

by, Abdur Rahman

Note from Author, Abdur Rahman: The poem was written in response to the horrors of war, particularly the recent Beit Hanoun massacre. It was inspired by the heartfelt sorrow of our good brother Sadiq. I took the title from a comment by our worthy brother Irving (aka Darvish). May God bless their hearts.

Credit: Abdur Rahman's Corner Pin It Now!

Prepare yourself prior to the gala rendezvous

Man is forbidden to look upon himself directly! Unless another object far from his essence, say a mirror, may reflect the light of his face. And by staring upon the mirror directly, then beholds himself indirectly.

Similarly, Beloved forbade the lover from looking upon His True-Self. Unless another object reflects the light of His True-Face from deep within. The radiant proof of a face inescapably in love with Beloved.

Know that the Haitian orphan is one such mirror!

You look reluctantly upon this mirror. First you see a needy child, doves of sympathy soon startle away. You turn your back but in few steps the ambient reflection of something effulgent pulls you back to the orphan. You look again and upon the face of Haitian orphan you see something afresh!? Something beautiful. Is it the comeliness of a child? And unbeknownst to you the quill of cognizance scribbles the lines of epiphany upon your frowning forehead…

When suddenly comes that ephemeral moment, a chasm between the light and the darkness, when capriciously the Haitian orphan, as if a polished perfect mirror, reflects the once hidden face deep within you. You gaze upon your own bewildering beauty, as you have never witnessed before.

Lovers! You may lie about yourself, you may drown in depth of self-hate, or roast your face upon the flames of pomp and false-pride to no avail. But the reflection of the orphan’s mirror shall render your true splendid image as was shaped, the very first time, by the Beloved.

Lovers! Hurry and look upon this mirror, study your face and prepare yourself prior to the gala rendezvous with the Beloved Creator.

Look upon yourself today, because tomorrow your Lord may not!

Credit: Untired with Loving | The Mirror

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Listen to the young girl | Reality bleeds

:: Credit: Sabbah's Blog

:: if you are touched and your heart bleeds as that of a fellow human being should, you can also donate a little from your comfortable life to those who are in greater need. join to make the world a better place.

i may recommend a few charity organization who are doing good work in Palestine and occuppied territory. visit yourself, read their activities and decide where you might contribute. pls visit the sites below.

:: The Welfare Association
:: The Palestine Children's Relief Fund
:: Save the Children in West Bank and Gaza Strip
:: Palestine Relief and Development Fund Pin It Now!

Are we true to ourself?

Words can explain all things that are comprehensible, but for the soul, which passes beyond human comprehension, words are too inadequate. But the question, "How can a person then realize his soul?" can be answered, "By the inner culture."

Every seeker after truth must remember one thing: that the first step in the path of truth is to become true to oneself.

Initiation only means a step forward, a step which should be taken with hope and courage, for without courage and hope it would be most difficult to take any forward step.

- Hazrat Inayat Khan

Credit : Sufi Movement

In sufi tradition initiation is done by the guide. But they also acknowledge that God is the Ultimate Guide and our initiation is done by Him alone. human master have the blessings to do it for us. yet, someone who doesn't have a master as per say, it doesn't mean he or she can not be initiated.

Just as falling in love can occur in no time, so is initiation. at any moment of grace, the Face of God may shine upon your heart to open the secret chamber. that moment is the moment of intiation to the path of truth. it is the moment of acknowledgement. the moment of witnessing (sahada). for some it is the moment of repentance (tauba) and turning back. for some it is the unveiling of the inner reality. for others it is the moment of falling in love with Infinite Presence, with love, with life. How that initiation will happen for each individual, only God decides. because we all are unique expression of God and He manifest in Infinite ways.

Sufi Inayat Khan says it beautifully when he says, Initiation only means a step forward and it requires that we be true to our ownself before anything else. only then the illumination of the Divine Light (Nur) inside all human heart begins to manifest. and thus the Sacred Heart within us shines.

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Tension of Opposite | Tuesday with Morrie

- "Have I told you about the tension of opposites?" [Morrie] says.
- The tension of opposites?
- "Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.
- "A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle."
Sounds like a wrestling match, I say.
- "A wrestling match." He laughs. "Yes, you could describe life that way.

- So which side wins, I ask?
- "Which side wins?" He smiles at me, the crinkled eye, the crooked teeth.
- "Love wins. Love always wins."

:: Mitch Albom - Tuesday with Morrie

Tuesday with Morrie is the runaway bestseller (4 years on the New York Times bestseller list) that changed millions of lives. Its a a magical chronicle about an old man, a young man and life's greatest lesson. As their shared time together, Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.

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Rabbis protecting Palestinian farmers and their olive trees | message of hope

There is hope! In a place like Israel, there are beautiful people like Rabbi Arik K. Ascherman, who wakes up at dawn to protect the Palestinian farmers working in their Olive tree plantation in their own lands. For the indigenous poor people of Palestine, one of the most important income source is Olive Tree plantation (60 percent of Palestinian crops). Radical Jewish Settlers (who are mostly living illegally on lands belonging to Palestinian people) very often cut down or burn the ancient olive trees which belongs to the Palestinians, which are perhaps the only source of income for the poor familes. Not only that, they shoot, injure and even kill farmers who dare to come to their own land.

Rabbi Ascherman, who is the co-director of Rabbis for Human Rights, spend the olive season rising at dawn with other israeli volunteers to put their life on the line to protect Palestinian farmers from armed Jewish settlers. Without the Jewish cleric, the poor and helpless palestinian farmers would be fired upon or beaten, their harvest stolen and ancient trees - some are dating from Roman times, felled with chainsaws.

'Viewers of CNN news probably are familiar with Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the tall, thin bearded man who places himself before Israeli bulldozers on their way to demolish Palestinian homes or olive groves. There he stands—until Israeli soldiers drag him away.

The American-born, Harvard-educated idealist explains that he had an epiphany during the sixth and seventh months of the current intifada. It was then that he graduated from protesting the war against civilians to performing acts of resistance, such as defying bulldozers and trying to refill ditches blockading Palestinian villages.' ... read more from Washington Report, which writes: If All Rabbis Were Like Arik Ascherman, Middle East Peace Would Be Attainable.

Another Rabbi David Forman in his articled, titled Settlers, hand off the olive trees writes: MOST DISTURBING from my point of view is that these settlers parade around as proud religious Jews, posing themselves as defenders of the faith. But, even a cursory reading of Jewish texts tells us:

When you besiege a city for a long time… you must not destroy its trees, wielding an ax against them (Deuteronomy 20:19).

We returned home with the sad feeling that the next day, with no Israeli delegation present, the settlers would continue their bullying of Palestinians with impunity. In this way they would be exposing the nature of their so-called Judaism - foreign to everything I believe as a religious Jew. My Judaism teaches me something quite the opposite of theirs, and apparently of our government’s too:

There shall be one law for the citizen and the stranger who dwells amongst you (Exodus 12:39).

The Postscript reads: As I write these lines, 140 trees were cut down in the Palestinian village of Burin.

Also read details about Rabbi leads defence of Palestinian olive groves from TimesOnline.

Reference: Rabbis for Human Rights // Israeli activities help olive crop //Protecting Olive Crops //Preventing Olive Tree destruction: Photos //Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: know the facts

Happy are those who keep the judgments, and practice righteousness at all times - Psalm 119

May God bless the people like Rabbi Arik Ascherman and other from Rabbis for Human Rights for their good work.


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Propaganda in US & Western Media | Knowing the facts & Al Jazeera Broadcasts English Service

Watch this documentary before you read the rest. the words are mostly unnecessary.

US which speaks about right to free speech in reality and practice is often the opposite. The media is manupulated to a degree unthinkable from outside if one doesn't know the mechanism. Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a very burning example of such disparity & bias in US media.

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land: U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is a documentary that provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported.

Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context-the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one. The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel's PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.

Interviewees include Seth Ackerman, Noam Chomsky, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Mjr. Stav Adivi, Hanan Ashrawi, Robert Fisk, Neve Gordon, Robert Jensen, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Karen Pfeifer, Alisa Solomon, and Gila Svirsky.

Watch a short review of the documentary here in you tube.

The full report (about 1 hour) is in google video.

image credit: Israeli soldiers guarding demolition of Palestinian houses while a father is made to watch with his two daughters.

AL JAZEERA | Alternative Perspective: Al Jazeera presenting a 360 degree view of the world and what is going on around: Al Jazeera, the Qatar based news channel has started their English service recently to provide a balanced perspective to the world. It is the most popular news service in the Arab-speaking world, will now be competing with CNN and the BBC in Europe and America.

Its now available in many cities around the world. Also from online you can watch it for free. Here is the link. Currently at a time you can watch 15 minutes, but can stop and replay to watch continuously.

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Beit Hanoun Massacre | When everything else seems utterly non-sense

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This is depressing! but i can't help but to post about it. On November 8, Israeli tank shells killed at least 18 people in their sleep. 8 children are said to be among the dead. Of the 18 killed, 13 were from the same family and over 40 more were wounded in a residential attack on Beit Hanoun. According to witnesses at the scene all of the dead are women and children.

i write and blog mostly on spirituality, on issues that inspire the inner self, that nourish the soul. but for who? the earth is bleeding all the time and so often the shadow and darkness of the reality is so grim, it over-power everything else. i was shocked to my core when i was browsing few of the blogs with details report from Beit Hanoun Massacre in Palestine by Israel. Sabbah's blog has details follow up of the incidents. also here is a youtube video about the massacre.

we live in a world of hypocracy all around. we kill children, women, paralyzed old people and cover our hand with blood and again go to the synagogue on Saturdays to pray. how arrogant and naive we human beings have become! we order shells and bombs to be sent to kill civilian sleeping at night and on sunday go to church with suit and shiny shoes. Somebody you know is keep saying NO to peace.

Terrorist country like Israel killing days and night innocent civilians, children, pregnant woman, old people indiscrimantly and USA is supporting nakedly and excercizings its right to veto in UN against any kind of action, even condemning the inhumane action. Watch the video and decide for yourself who is the real terrorist in the world. yes, you need to know, because you deserve to know.

Haitham Sabbah reports in his site about this latest massacre by Israeli teorrist army attack on sleeping women and innocent children (warning there are graphic images which might be disturbing for your cozy and too comfortable life-style). But no denying, this is the reality.

i am totally disturbed, ashamed and feeling helpless (hopeless at the same time). Against such inhumane behaviour, everything else seems so non-sense! pls pray and take action, no matter how small you can do on your part, so that all useless wars and conflicts come to an end.

:: the pains are echoing // Global research // 1 israel too many mistakes // Commitment to the Palestinian Solidarity Cause

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Polishing the Heart

Sufis describe the heart as a mirror which the wayfarer polishes and polishes with aspiration and inner work, until no imperfection remains. then mirror of the heart can reflect the true light of the God.

By means of the Divine Lights, the heart becomes polished so that it shines like a polished mirror. When it becomes a mirror one can see in it the reflection of all existing things and the reflection of the Kingdom of God as they really are.

- Al-Hakim At Tirmidhi

Whether your lot be glory or disgrace, be pure of both hatred and love of self. Polish your mirror, and perhaps that sublime beauty from the regions of mystery will shine in your breat - just as it did for the prophets. And then, with you heart illuminated by that splendor, the secret of the Beloved will no longer be concealed from you.

- Jami

from the Book: Travelling the Path of Love edited by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

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On this day, I was given the grace

God has made us infinite, such is His pleasure.
- Tagore

On this day, 16th of November, i was given the grace to be born; All praise and all credit be to the Giver of Grace. i was given the honor to be made manifest from the realm of invisible to the realm of visible. on this day God in His infinite pleasure gave me this unimaginable grace of experiencing life, to breath for the first time, to cry for the first time, to experience seeing light for the first time.

He gave the unparallel and extra-ordinary opportunity to participate in this unthinkable and mind-boggling mystery, the ever unfolding drama we call life. He presented the gift of a loving mother, who's love is unique in the entire cosmos, and to be nourished with mother's milk which can only metaphysically understood as how we are nourished all our life by God's grace.

and God makes me absolutely fool whenever i think how to thank Him. never can i, never could i. Yet on this day, i again gather my gratefulness once again and bow to His Majesty for giving this extra-ordinary ticket to life. accept my thank O the King of King! for allowing this ungrateful fellow to Your court of inifinte wonder. when will i learn how to be grateful? your servant wish to tell you, he is satisfied with whatever You Will; because You are the Source of Grace and You are the Infinite Love. what else Your servant could ever ask and wish for?

On this day O Beloved, let my prayers be one. Love us ever and give us the ability to love You as You Will. Love us ever as you loved us when you created all souls, all our being and kept us in Your Divine proximity and with your Loving glace, glanced upon us. i pray that bless us with that Divine Glance, which carries Your tender Love, in our life here and next. Amen.

My dear friend Colette with Rumi sent me this beautiful poem few days back for my birthday. Let me share this with you:

You that come to birth
and bring the Mysteries
Your voice thunder
makes us very happy.
Roar, Lion of the Heart,
and tear me open!


with ceaseless love and calling for Divine Blessings upon you all.
- your unworthy friend,
Sadiq

Picture: yes thats me in the background! and my dear little sister sitting in front.

Gift: Here is a little gift for you. full length mp3 of a music, my very favorite one. its played by Anoushka Shankar. Pls pray and keep me in your remembrance when you listen to this blissful music.

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Illuminating the Empty Space | Personal Tao

What is the Empty Space?

Take some clay. Feel it in your hands. Now spin it upon a potter’s wheel. What is shaped? A bowl comes out. However, the bowl is defined by an empty space, a space enclosed by the bowl’s very form. The empty space holds the water, fulfilling the purpose of the bowl. The actual physical form of the bowl is reflected by the empty space it projects. The final use and form of the bowl is determined in the moment of artistry used to spin out the shape.

In this example the bowl is made from clay. The clay forms the body, but the actual bowl projects out as more than a clay shell; it must include the “empty space” in its definition. In fact a bowl is more about the “empty space” than the materials comprising the bowl.

In living, we each have a physical form which is mirrored by an empty space. The process of shaping this space is the very definition of a person’s free will.

Free will is the ability to express the very nature of the empty space. Free will is the whim of the moment, the place before the dream, the moment of shaping.

In part, our initial empty space is formed by parents, elders, teachers, culture, our bodies and tendencies of the mind. Yet each person has an incredible degree of freedom to shape their own empty space. At certain times this process is more dramatic than others, such as being a teenager or experiencing a mid-life crisis. These moments stand out as a time to question earlier frameworks that shaped our forms. These times can be difficult due to the twisting around of our core shape and beliefs: a time when our very nature is in flux. Often a person reshapes their empty space without the benefit of outside perspective, adding to the frustration and chances of something “breaking”. A person never truly breaks in this sense, but radically changing one’s own empty space then reflects out to form a vastly different person after the experience.

We are the light of our own empty space.

Consciousness is the awareness of one’s empty space.

The only limit being the imagination itself.
Be free, be yourself.

- Casey Kochmar

Credit: Article link to Casey's Personal Tao site Pin It Now!

A Prayer by Mawlana Faizani

O' Bestower, Sovereign and Holy!

O' Great, Merciful and Generous God, That the hearts of people are between The two fingers of Your Being; Turn all these hearts (of us, companions, supporters, friends, all who Submit to Your Divine Will and all children of Man of our time) as far as You will, towards Yourself, for practicing Your commands, leaving the forbidden, and knowing Your Unique Being, for the sake of Your names preserved Hidden, Great, Exalted and Greatest of Great.

We are defeated (to our nafs, to our ego), give us victory For the sake of Your Honor and Glory; O' The Most Pure and Holy; Hurry for its acceptance, O' The Fulfiller of all Needs.

- Mawlana Faizani

:: Credit| May God bless the soul of Mawlana Faizani and multiple his good deeds.

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Power and Hegemony | Temptation of Christ

- an article by Irshaad Hussain

"Then leading him to a height, Satan showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor and said to him, 'I will give you all this power and glory of all these kingdoms....worship me then and it shall be all yours.' Then Jesus replied, 'Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship your Lord, your God and serve Him alone.' (Matthew 4:8-10)

This beautifully evocative passage from Matthew contains a succinct spiritual statement concerning the worldly history of mankind – a history replete with ambition, desire, conquest, hegemony, and empire building. Satan's offer to Jesus represents the ultimate profane offer - every kingdom of the world with all the accompanying power, glory and wealth - a naked appeal to the ego and to the avaricious aspects of the nafs (soul) in its lowest state of being.

We have to wonder whether Satan was so deluded as to believe that Jesus would actually succumb to such transparent bribery - perhaps it is indicative of the limits within which Satan is forced to operate - when faced with a faithful servant of God he can only increase the magnitude of his offer, not alter its nature. "Surely the strategy of the Shaitan (Satan) is weak...." (Qur'an 4:76) Of course, Jesus easily saw the crux of the matter, and banished Satan away. The passage concludes with the statement, "Then Satan left him and angels came and attended Jesus."

This is the case for Jesus. But this offer of Satan's - this deal with the devil is one that we can imagine has been offered again and again (in more limited but endlessly varied ways) throughout the history of mankind. Satan's offer is always present. 'I will give you power, glory, and empire in your time - just bend towards me - a little bow, a small acknowledgement through casting aside of truth, compassion, and principle and I'll assist you on your way to conquest, hegemony, wealth, power, glory. All your ambitions realized at the expense of others.'

It is as if this offer has remained on the table from the beginning of human history, and every era has had its takers - snatching the bargain greedily off the table before it falls into other's hands. A history of conquests, of monopolies, of dominance, of political, military, and economic manipulation and sovereignty - that's how we're taught history - as an endless parade of pharaohs, dynasties, kingdoms, fiefdoms, sultanates, empires, dictatorships, republics, or democracies all engaged in an increasingly vicious, brutish, and nasty game of King of the Hill.

Jesus wasn't just offered the position of King of the Hill, but that of King of the mother of all hills - a kingdom encompassing all other kingdoms past, present, and future - and he cast it aside as worthless dross. While he saw the whole of this dance of worldly dominance as inconsequential, how is it that so many others have struck the devil's bargain even for small specks of power, seeking dominion over any hillock, no matter how small or insignificant.

The lure of the game is powerful, almost irresistible, it seems. And as the world shrinks with the increasingly speedy growth of technology and the advent of an age of scientific miracles, the stakes of the game become great. Technology is a vast and immensely powerful lever that extends and strengthens potential human reach and brings the possibility of control, surveillance, and dominion into jurisdictions that were previously free of interference. The stakes for those of us who live on this hill (that is, the earth) are considerable. We're arriving at an age in which everyone is affected by the game - whether we cast aside the devil's bargain or accept it, we're going to suffer the effects of the battle for the summit – there will be precious few places of refuge remaining.

The devil's contract is already laid out - the offer is on the table (it’s perpetually present in every era although it becomes increasingly tempting at certain critical historical junctures or following historically precipitous events) - a tantalizing lure to those nations whose ambitions already lean in that direction. From the perspective of a long and bloody human history, it's an elementary deduction to ascertain that someone is always eager to take the bait even if getting the prize involves a de-facto deal with the devil – “'I will give you all this power and glory …worship me then and it shall be all yours….” (Matthew 4:8,9)

Of course, this is not a literal deal. After all, what one values...what one worships, is indicated not solely by words that come from the mouth but by the character and spirit that determines intentions, animates purpose, and manifests in deeds. As the qur'an says of those whose intentions and actions and hidden aims are bonded powerfully to opportunistic, temporal, acquisitive, mercenary, uncompassionate ends: "Did I not charge you, O children of Adam! that you should not worship the Shaitan?" (Qur'an 36:60) A corrupted worship - seeking what the ego desires (an individual ego, a nation's ego, an economic, military, or ideological ego) in disregard of truth and heedless of the welfare of others, while falsely propagandizing what is sought as if it is born of a pure worship, true intention, or noble aims - this is like associating Satan with God.

"And the Shaitan (Satan) shall say after the affair is decided: Surely Allah promised you the Promise of truth, and I gave you alluring promises, then failed to keep them to you, and I had no authority over you, except that I called you and you obeyed me, therefore do not blame me but blame yourselves: I cannot be your helper (now) nor can you be my helpers; surely I disbelieved in your associating me with Allah before; surely it is the unjust that shall have the painful punishment." (Qur'an 14:22)

The invitation is perpetually present - so that every era faces weak facsimiles of the temptation faced by Christ – but the temptation is a means to unearth the true character of nations as well as individuals – to see what glittery prizes they stumble after and who joins with them. The history of each generation is a complex map of how the diverse elements of that generation faced the alluring seduction of Shaitan’s offer.

“Let it not deceive you that those who misbelieve go (arrogantly) to and fro in the land. It is a slight and fading possession….” (Qur'an 3:196)

:: with kind permission from author, partially posted | Read the full article from Islam from Inside | Temptation of Christ Pin It Now!

Meditative Quranic Verse 4: Exclusive Devotion

Waothkuri isma rabbika watabattal ilayhi tabteelan

And remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with exclusive devotion.
The Quran 73:8


:: Previous posts on this series
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 1: God and Human heart (with an intro to this series)
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 2: Overflowing Love
+ Meditative Quranic Verse 3: Divine Promise Pin It Now!

The Mirror (and unfolding of Divine Mystery)

YOUR eye has not strength enough
To gaze at the burning sun,
But you can see its brilliant light
By watching its reflection
Mirrored in the water.

So the reflection of Absolute Being
Can be viewed in this mirror of Not-Being,
For non-existence, being opposite Reality,
Instantly catches its reflection.

Know the world from end to end is a mirror;

In each atom a hundred suns are concealed.
If you pierce the heart of a single drop of water,
From it will flow a hundred clear oceans;

If you look intently at each speck of dust,
In it you will see a thousand beings,
A gnat in its limbs is like an elephant;

In name a drop of water resembles the Nile,
In the heart of a barley-corn is stored an hundred harvests,
Within a millet-seed a world exists,
In an insect's wing is an ocean of life,

A heaven is concealed in the pupil of an eye,
The core in the centre of the heart is small,
Yet the Lord of both worlds will enter there.


- from Mahmud Shabistari's Secret Rose Garden
translated by Florence Lederer

Technorati Tags: Divine Secret Poetry SecretRoseGarden Mahmud Shabistari RoseGarden Mirror

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Re-emerge into the garden of consciousness

As the Angel rolled away the stone

from the mouth of the tomb,
that the Resurrected Christ
might come forth in glory,
so the Angel of potential
within each one of us
must roll back the stone
that has barricaded
the entrance to our hearts.

The reality of who we are
is not to be forever confined.
The hour has come.
Our centuries in
the sarcophagus are complete.

We have no more time
for the ancient hardness of heart
that has blocked our perception of God.
Unwavering, we approach
the stone until it dissolves
in a thousand particles of blinding light.

It is time to re-emerge
into the garden of consciousness.

- KEN CAREY


Credit: SACRIFICE AND BLISS
"Gateways of the Divine: An Illuminated Manuscript for the Modern Age" by Colette

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Capturing Gaza's Hell: A TIME Photo essay

In the previous post titled, Remembrance and sacred consciousness, the theme was war and those who are lost in war in the past. Sadly enough there are wars and even more in-humane ways of treating people is going on around the world at this very moment, even NOW. As if we have become so mad that we forgot the sacredness of human life. In the sacred land where once walked Moses, Abraham, Jesus and so many great Biblical Prophets, there is going on this in-humane treatment by the country of Israel on the people of Palestine. How shameful!

TIME photographer Alexandra Boulat on the challenges of documenting an ongoing conflict. Click here to view and listen to the journalist's own voice.

This is another touching photo essay titled, When the War is over. A vivid potrayal of physical and emotional wounds on human being from the wars and conflicts.

More photo essays can be found here.
+ Vicious circle in the Middle East
+ You can donate for the people of Palestine via Islamic Relief.
+ Palestine Remembered
+ Palestine Children Fund Relief

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Remembrance day and sacred consciousness

My dear dear friend, Anise has this noble thought when she sent me and others the following thoughts in email. i am sharing with you all who chance to visit here. i have added my thoughts after the end of the poem.

Dear Ones,

One thing I believe Canada has got on the United States (among others things including Thanksgiving in October), is a thoughtful and respectful observance of what Canadians call "Remembrance Day." It takes place every year on the 11th day of 11th month. It is the day I miss home the most.

On that day most people wear poppies as a sign of remembering those who have been victims of war. I recall very often having Remembrance Day poetry, art, and research projects assigned weeks in advance in school. I remember every year the entire school walking down to the town Cenotaph (an empty grave at the center of town) where we witness the laying of wreaths, among other ceremonial activities, reading of letters, creeds, scripture, and music.

What I remember most nostalgically is the period of silence taken. At 11am everyone, in schools, business, government, would stop and be silent for 2 minutes to remember those lost in war. Very young I remember being quite struck by the power of knowing that across the country, we were silent together at the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month.

The silence was always broken by the poem written by a Canadian doctor during WW1. (included below)

As I attempt to integrate my spiritual practice in all parts of my life, tomorrow at 11am I will say a prayer, keep silence, and read the poem. I am encouraging you all to do so in whatever manner you find most expressive of your unique self. Set your watches, your cell phones, pdas, computer, your internal clock for 11am, to remember. Remember those died, and especially those who continue to die in the name of war. In your remembrance you will honor them. In your remembrance you yourself will be changed, and then in your remembrance, peace is made just a little more possible. Peace be with you all

love,
Anise

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps who in May 1915 when after watching the death of a close friend in Belgium wrote the following poem:

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

--------------------------------------------------

Let the wars stop. Let all wars from Latin America, to Africa to Asia to all lands stop. Let us remember the fact that we dont own this earth and this is NOT an object of material pleasure so that we may rape it as much as we like. Remember the great Native American saying,"We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."

Let us remember that this is a sacred place in the entire Cosmos and let us reflect and remember the sacredness of EVERY HUMAN LIFE that descend on this planet from realm of Unknown.

May our remembrance for all the people who lost their lives in war bring more of this sacred consciousness so that we and our next generations can live in harmony and peace. Know that human thoughts are extremely powerful and from collective thoughts and consciousness, greater changes can be made possible.

RemebranceDay Remembrance Canada War Veteran Flanders Field AntiWar Pin It Now!

Sri Ramakrishna: The Master Speaks

Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over - crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realise that they know nothing.

God is the master, the devotee is the servant. God is the beloved the devotee is the lover.

What are you to do when you are placed in the world? Surrender everything to Him, resign yourself to Him, and there will be no more trouble for you. Then you will come to know that everything is done by His will.

It is easy to talk on religion, but difficult to practice it.

If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled.

Because of the screen of Maya that shuts off God from human view, one cannot see Him playing in one's heart.

If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.

credit

Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) was a great mystic saint of India. His early life was devoted to the practice and realizing of a variety of spiritual disciplines, including those of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. After realizing God in each of those religions, he declared that all faith paths, if followed with earnestness, lead to the same God-realization.

Ramakrishna’s life therefore embodies all spiritual ideals and represents the harmony of the world’s great religious traditions. He is a truely universalist in his approach to God realization. Five of his disciples spread the message of Vedanta in the United States and Europe. May God's peace be upon this great soul.

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