Transcend

If God said, ‘Rumi pay homage to everything that has helped you enter my arms,’ there would not be one experience of my life, not one thought, not one feeling, nor any act, I would not bow to.

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 cleaning 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 the beyond.

Define and narrow me,
you starve yourself of yourself
Nail me down in a box of cold words,
That box is your coffin.
I do not know who I am.
…I am in astounded, lucid confusion.
I am not a Christian,
not a Jew,
not a Zoroastrian,
I am not even a Muslim …
I am the life of life.
I am that cat,
this stone,
no one.
I see and know all times
and worlds as one,
One,
always One.

Every night when you feel
the world is unjust
never ending grace
descends from the sky
to soothe your souls
…the night is not crowded like the day
the night is filled with eternal love
take this night
tight in your arms
as you hold a sweetheart

You are a volume in the divine book
A mirror to the power that created the universe
Whatever you want, ask it of yourself
Whatever you’re looking for can only be found
Inside of you.

Love is the cure, for your pain will keep giving birth to more pain until your eyes constantly exhale love as effortlessly as your body yields its scent.

Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.
The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same.
Every wonderful sight will vanish, every sweet word will fade,
But do not be disheartened,
The source they come from is eternal, growing,
Branching out, giving new life and new joy.
Why do you weep?
The source is within you,
And this whole world is springing up from it.

Rumi was once asked, ”Isn’t it strange that you talk so much about silence?”. He answered, “The radiant one inside me has never said a word.

You and I have spoken all these words, but for the way we have to go, words are no preparation. I have one small drop of knowing in my soul. Let it dissolve in your ocean.

The Lamps are different,
but the Light is the same.

Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being.

Doing as others told me, I was blind. Coming when others called me, I was lost. Then I left everyone, myself as well. Then I found everyone, myself as well.

All religions, all this singing, one song. The differences are just illusion and vanity. The sun’s light looks a little different on this wall than it does on that wall, and a lot different on this other one, but it’s still one light.