Monday, November 30, 2009

Looking for Roses..

"Know that the thorn is that which you, because you are very greedy and very blind, has deemed to be a date.  Your inclination is towards thorn bushes and sand; I wonder what roses you will gather from worthless thorns? O You, who in this search has roamed from one quarter to another, how long will you say, " Where? Where is this rose garden?" Until you extract this thorn in your foot, your eye is blind. How will you go about?
A human being, whose spirit is so magnificent that it cannot be contained in the world, becomes hidden in the point of a thorn.
God, in spite of the skeptics, caused spiritual gardens and plots of sweet flowers to grow in the hearts of His friends. Every rose is sweet scented within; that rose is telling you the secrets of the Universal"         
 Rumi (Vol 1. selections from 1964-2022)

Commentary: The Friend, the Beloved, is here to teach us about gardening. There are roses blooming in Worcester today. There are breathtaking roses blooming in our own hearts right now.  As long as my  attention is completely  focused on that pesky thorn in my  foot, I'm  going to be missing the garden.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

a little wailing

"Where is  a heart that is not shattered in a hundred pieces by God's love?...How should I utter a word?-- for the fire in my heart is grown fierce, the lion of separation from the Beloved, has become raging and blood shedding. Inasmuch as He is thy lover, do thou  be silent: as He is pulling your ear, be you all ear....How should I not wail bitterly on account of His deceit, since I am not in the circle of those intoxicated with Him?  How should I not mourn, like night, without His day, and without the favor of His day-illuming countenance? His unsweetness is sweet to my soul......The Friend loves this agitation:it is better to struggle vainly than to lie still..... In this way be ever scraping , and scratching, and exerting yourself to the utmost; until your last breath do not be unoccupied for a moment. "
Rumi (Vol. 1; selections from 1723-1822)

Commentary: Rumi is always reminding us that on the path of love, the way forward will be neither clear,  nor smooth. Keep going.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

This tangled complex world...

"If we come to ignorance, that is His prison, and if we come to knowledge that is His power.
And if we come to sleep we are His intoxicated ones; and if to wakefulness, we are in His hands.
And if we weep, we are a cloud laden with the bounty dispensed by Him, and if we laugh, at that time we are His lightening.
And if we come to wrath and war, 'tis the reflection of His might;and if to peace and forgiveness, 'tis the reflection of His Love.
Who are we? In this tangled complex world, what is there, other than God? Nothing. Nothing. "
Rumi (Vol. 1: 1520-1514)

Commentary: At the heart of every circumstance and challenge, there is something that is trustworthy; even today.

Friday, November 27, 2009

the blazing consumer

" To slay this enemy (the selfish mind) is not the work of reason and intelligence. ...this self is a dragon that is not diminished by oceans of water.. It would drink up the seven seas, and still the blazing consumer of all creatures would not become less. Stones, and stony-hearted infidels enter it, miserable and shame faced.  But still, it is not appeased by all this food, until there comes to it from God, this call--- "Are you filled? Are  you filled?" It says, "not yet! lo, Here is the fire, here is the glow, here  is the burning.!" It made a mouthful of, and swallowed the whole world, its belly crying out loud, "Is there any more?"
God , from the realm where place is not, sets His foot on it (the selfish mind), then, it subsides at the command, "Be. And it was."
Rumi (Vol 1: 1374-1381)

Commentary: What are we shopping for? Professional success" A personality upgrade?  Cooler toys? A satisfied mind? Rumi reminds us of just how hungry this selfish desire of ours is, and that it will never find what will satisfy it; even if it "swallows the whole world". Only God has the power to subdue, contain and ultimately vanquish this starving part of us. We go to God, as beggars, asking for help and forgiveness. And we go shopping. Right now, I'm leaving for the Worcester Crafts Fair... Maybe I'll find all my Christmas gifts??? What I won't find is what I really want. It is not for sale at any price.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

The Clouds of Destiny

"The divine destiny is a cloud that covers the sun....If the divine destiny shrouds you  in black like night, yet the divine destiny will guide you at the last. If the divine destiny a hundred times attempts your life, yet the divine destiny gives you life and heals you.  The divine destiny, if a hundred times it waylays you, nevertheless pitches your tent at the top of Heaven."
Rumi (Vol. 1:1255-1259)


Commentary: It has been a cloudy week in New England, and Thanksgiving Day is no exception. May we remember the long term forecast: we are loved, we are fed, and there is every reason to be hopeful that the sun will shine on us soon. Happy Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Table of Majesty

"To show suspicion and greed at the table of Majesty is ingratitude"
Rumi   (Vol 1:86)

Commentary: Suspicion distances us from reality and one another. Assuming bad faith, disappointment or duplicity moves  us into isolation. Greed, on the other hand, hurls us rapidly in the direction of the other. But it  is a wanting and a longing that is prone to use force,  bullying and deceit. Charles Dicken's fictional character  Scrooge was a perfect marriage of suspicion and greed. He was blind to goodness, in every circumstance.

If we wish to dine, actually be nourished, this Thanksgiving, or in any encounter with  a feast  of abundance, if we wish to know gratitude and grace, then along with our favorite foods, we should consider bringing some trust and some generosity to the banquet.  With the opening of our own hearts,  we'll realize that we have always been most welcome at the "table of Majesty".

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Be not anxious

Be glad and carefree, and have no fear. For I will do to you that which the rain does to the meadow.
I will be anxious for you, Be not you anxious;I am kinder to  you than a hundred fathers.

Rumi