FESTIVAL OF THE MONTH "NAWROZ"

( Originally meaning "new light" [roz being cognate with Latin lux],
later coming to mean "new day"). It is the name of the festival of new
 year, according to the Persian solar calender, after the spring equinox
on 21 March. It is a holiday celebrated in Iran as are so many Islamic
holidays, by family visiting.

REF:THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM

WHAT WAS SAID TO THE ROSE

What was said to the rose that made it open
 was said to me in my chest.

 What was told the cypress that made it strong
 and straight, what was whispered the jasmine

 so it is what it is, whatever made sugarcane
 sweet; whatever was said to the inhabitants

 of the town of Chigil in Turkestan that makes
them so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate

 flower blush like a human face, that is being
 said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence

 in language, that's happening here. The great
warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,

 chewing a piece of sugarcane, in love wiyh
 the one to whom every that belongs!

THE FELICITY OF GRACE

O my Mawla, you know that
in this contemptible world,
life elapses in negligence as
the months and years pass away.

O my Mawla, we have not sown
a single grain in this world
for the sake of the next world,
even as time keep slipping by.

Then an oracle invisible said
to the ear of my soul:
"Do not fear, for you have
received an unexpected felicity."

Even though I am devoid
of obedience, I am happy that
whoever becomes a darwish of your
court becomes a man exalted.

O my Mawla, even if I am
guilty of gross audacity,
I will not worry because your
grace accompanies me always.

ABD ALLAH ANSARI

TURNING A PROBLEM INTO AN OPPORTUNITY

       Once upon a time, there was a railroad express clerk
in Minnesota. He was a nice young man to work every day,
doing his job. One day, he received a large box of watches
that were to go to the local jeweler. However, the jeweler did
not want them. The young express clerk contacted the distributer
who had sent the watches in the first place, but he did not want
them back because the return postage was too expensive.
       The railroad clerk had a problem. What was he going to do
with the box of watches? An idea dawned on him, and he devised
a creative solution by drawing pictures of the watches, adding
written descriptions of them, and putting together a small catalog
of watches. He then sent the catalog to other railroad clerks. In
just a few weeks, they bought all the watches he had. His catalog
plan was so successful that he ordered more watches and enlarged
the catalog.
        The clerk's name? Sear. His catalog? Sears, Roebuck, and
Company. Sears turned his problem into opportunity and became
one of the most successful men in America.

TEACHING HIMSELF

Whoever would be a teacher of men let him begin by
teaching himself before teaching others; and let him
teach by example before teaching by word. For he who
teaches himself and rectifies his own ways is more
deserving of respect and reverence than he who would
teach others and rectify their ways.

                                                     KAHLIL GIBRAN

SWEEPERS

Said a philosopher to a street sweeper,"I
petty you. Yours is a hard and dirty task."
And the street sweeper said, "Thank you,
sir. But tell me, what is your task?"
And the philosopher answered,"I study
man's mind, his deeds and his desires."
Then the street sweeper went on with his
sweeping and said with a smile,"I pity you
too."

                                  KAHLIL GIBRAN

THE THREE ANTS

Three ants met on the nose of a man who
was lying asleep in the sun. And after they
 had saluted one another, each according to
the custom of his tribe, they stood there
conversing.

The first ant said, "These hills and plains
are the most barren I have known. I have searched
whole day for a grain of some sort, and there is none
to be found."

Said the second ant, "I too have found nothing,
though I visited every nook and glade. This is I believe,
what my people call the soft, moving land where nothing
grows."

The the third ant raised his head and said, "My friends,
we are standing now on the nose of the Supreme Ant, the
mighty and infinite Ant, whose body is so great that we
cannot see it, whose shadow is so vast that we cannot trace
it; and He is omnipresent."

When the third ant spoke thus, the other ants looked at
each other and laughed.

At that moment the man moved and in his sleep raised
his hand and scratched his nose, and the three ants were
crushed.

                                                                    KAHLIL GIBRAN

THE EYE

Said the Eye one day, "I see beyond this valley
a mountain veiled with blue mist. Is it not
beautiful?"

        The Ear listened, and after listening intently
awhile, said, "But where is any mountain? I do not
hear it."

        Than the Hand spoke and said, "I am trying in
vain to feel it or touch it, and I can find no mountain."

       And the Nose said, "There is no mountain, I
cannot smell it."

       Then the Eye turned the other way, and they all
began to talk together about the Eye's strange delusion.
And they said, "Something must be the matter with
the Eye."

                                                      KHALIL GIBRAN

BETTER TO SLEEP

I remember that once, when a child went through
a holy phase. I fasted, and I used to get up in the
night to pray. Once, I sat up all night with my father.
I held the sered Koran in my lap and never once closed
my eyes.

All around the rest of the household snored in sleep.

'Just listen to them' I remarked to my father,
'Not one of them think of saying prayer. They are sleeping
like the dead.'

'My beloved son,' he replied, 'you would be much better
asleep yourself if all you can do in your wakefulness
is disparage others.'

                                                       SAA'DI

A HEAVY TOMB

I once saw the son of a rich man, sitting
on the magnificent tomb of his father. He
was quarrelling with another boy, the son
of a dervish, and saying:

'Look at the splendour of my father's tomb.
See the marble pavements, the turquoise
bricks! And inside, the stone coffin is covered
with an elegant epitaph. Compare your father's
grave- a couple of bricks sprinkled with dust!'

The dervish boy listen and said:

'By the time your father has been able to get out
from under there, mine will long have been in
paradise.'

                                                     SAA'DI

THE KING AND THE PEASANT

A king and his courtiers were enjoying a winter
hunt but, as dusk fell, they realised they were far
from any suitable place to spend the night. As it
grew darker, all they could find was a peasant's
cottage.
"Let us see if we can stay there," suggested the
king, "for it is certainly very cold."

His vizier protested. "You can't spend the night in
the hut of a miserable peasant, my lord! It would
lower your royal diginty. Let us pitch our tents, light
many fires, and make the best of it."

Inside his cottage the peasant had heard all this. He
quickly came out and kissed the ground before the
king.

"I am sure that your royal dignity would not be lowered
if you stayed in my hut," he said, "I suspect that your
vizier is more worried that my peasant dignity might
be raised a little."

The king laughed at this. He dismounted, accepted the
peasant's invitation, and ate and slept in his home. In
morning the king gave him a robe of honour and other
presents.

When the king had mounted his horse and resumed his
journey, the peasant caught hold of the stirrup and ran
 a few paces with him.

"You see," he called out, "you have lost nothing of your
glory and power.But as for me,O, I feel as if my hat touched
the sun itself because of your visit!"

                                                                     SAA'DI
REF:THE DISCONTENTED DERVISHES

THANK YOU GOD

                  Giving thanks for abundance
               is sweeter than the abundance itself:
Should one who is absorbed with the Generous One
                  be distracted by the gift?
          Thankfulness is the soul of beneficence;
                      abundance is but the husk,
for thankfulness brings you to the place where the Beloved lives.
                   Abundance yields heedlessness;
                          thankfulness, alertness:
  hunt for bounty with the snare of gratitude to the King.

                                                              RUMI

REF:JEWELS OF REMEMBRANCE

'OH, WOULD THAT MY PEOPLE KNEW'

The divine Mercy repaired the tattered cloak of my piety
   and bestowed upon me a repentance as sweet as life.
                   Whatever ill deeds I had done,
                It took them as not having been done;
                    and my undone acts of obedience
                     It took as having been performed.
  It made me glad of heart as good fortune and felicity.
     It inscribed my name in the book of the righteous:
                       I was on e doomed to Hell;
                            it gave me Paradise.
        When I cried "Alas," my "Alas" became a rope,
           I clutched that rope and climbed out:
I became glad and strong, sturdy, yet fragrant as a rose.
             I had been lying at the bottom of a well:
             now the whole world cannot contain me.
                   Praises be to You, O God!
            You suddenly placed me far from sorrow.
Though the tip of every hair of mine should gain a tongue,
     still, the thanks due to You could not be expressed.
Amid these gardens and fountains I am crying out to the people,
                "Oh, would that my people knew!"

                                                                                RUMI
REF:JEWELS OF REMEMBRANCE

10 SECRETS FOR SUCCESS AND INNER PEACE

1. Have a Mind That Is Open to
    Everything and Attached to Nothing.....

2. Don't Die with Your Music Still in You....

3. You Can't Give Away What You Don't Have....

4. Embrace Silence....

5. Give Up Your Personal History....

6. You Can't Solve a Problem with the Same Mind
     That Created It.....

7. There Are No Justified Resentments.....

8. Treat Yourself As If You Already Are
     What You'd Like to Be.....

9. Treasure Your Divinity.....

10. Wisdom Is Avoiding All Thoughts
       That Weakens You.....

                DR. WAYNE DYER

IMMATURITY

              This world is like a tree,
   and we are the half-ripe fruit upon  it.
   Unripe fruit clings tight to the branch
because, immature, it's not ready for the palace.
   When fruit become ripe, sweet and juicy,
 then biting their lips, they loosen their hold.
When the mouth has been sweetened by felicity,
    the kingdom of the world loses its appeal.
To be tightly attached to the world signifies immaturity;
            as long as you are an embryo,
        blood-drinking is your business.

                                                      RUMI

REF:JEWELS OF REMEMBRANCE

SEARCH

Whether one moves slowly or with speed,
the one who is a seeker will be a finder.
      Always seek with your whole self,
for the search is an excellent guide on the way.
      Though you are lame and limping,
    though your figure is bent and clumsy,
always creep toward the One. Make that One your quest.
       By speech and by silence and by fragrance,
        catch the scent of the King everywhere.
                                                 
                                                      RUMI
REF: JEWEL OF REMEMBRANCE

FROM CRUTCHES TO A WORLD-CLASS RUNNER

A number of years ago in Elkhart, Kansas, two brothers
had a job at the local school. Early each morning their job
 was to start a fire in the potbellied stove in the classroom.
       One cold morning, the brothers cleaned out the stove
and loaded it with firewood. Grabbing a can of kerosene,
one of them doused the wood and lit the fire. The explosion
rock the old building. the fire killed the older brother and
badly burned the legs of the other brother. It was later
discovered that the kerosene can had accidentally been
filled with gasoline.
        The doctor attending the injured boy recommended
amputating the young boy's legs. The parents were devastated.
They had already lost one son, and now their other son was
to lose his legs.But they did not lose their faith. They asked
the doctor for a postponement of the amputation. The doctor
consented. Each day they asked the doctor for a delay, praying
that their son's legs would somehow heal and that he would
become well again. For two months, the parents and the doctor
debated on whether to amputate. They used this time to instill
in the boy the belief that he would walk again someday.
   They never amputated the boy's legs, but when the bandages
were finally removed, it was discovered that the right leg
was almost three inches shorter than the other. The toes of
his left foot were almost completely burned off. Ye the boy
was fiercely determined. Though in excruciating pain, he
forced himself to exercise daily and finally took a few painful
steps. Slowly recovering, this young man finally threw away
his crutches and began to walk almost normally. Soon he was
running.
          This determined young man kept running and running
and running- and those legs that came so close to being amputated
carried him to a  world record in the mile run. His name?
Glenn Cunningham, who was known as the "World's Fastest
Human Being." and was named athlete of the century at Madison
Square Garden.....

REF:THE SPEAKER'S SOURCEBOOK BY GLENN VAN EKEREN
   

QUOTES FROM 10 SECRETS FOR SUCCESS AND INNER PEACE (CONT)

-Florence Farr once said to me, "If we could
  say to ourselves, with sincerity, 'The passing
  moment is as good as any I shall ever know,'
  we could die upon the instant and be united
  with God."

                   WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

-Here lies my past Goodbye I have kissed it;
 Thank you kids, I wouldn't have missed it.

                  OGDEN NASH

-Any path is only a path, and there is no
  affront to one self or to others, in dropping
  it if that is what your heart tells you.

               CARLOS CASTANEDA

-Any man can make mistakes, but only an
  idiot persists in his error.

                CICERO

-The happiness of your life depends upon
  the quality of your thoughts......
  take care that you entertain no notion
  unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.

                 MARCUS AURELIUS

-God does not command that we do great things,
  only little things with great love.

                MOTHER TERESA

-It is necessary to the happiness of man that
  he be mentally faithful to himself.

               THOMAS PAINE

-First say to yourself what would be,
 and then do what you have to do.

                EPICTETUS

-There is only two ways to live your life.
  One is as though nothing is a miracle.
  The other is as though everything is a
  miracle.

               ALBERT EINSTEIN

-In the faces of men and women, I see God.

               WALT WHITMAN

-Believe that life is worth living, and
 your belief will create that fact.

             WILLIAM JAMES

-Nothing is, unless our thinking makes it so.

            WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

-

-

QUOTES FROM 10 SECRETS FOR SUCCESS AND INNER PEACE

-Take sips of this pure wine being poured.
  Don't mind that you've been given in dirty
  cup.
                 RUMI

-Arrange whatever pieces come you way.

                  VIRGINIA WOOLF

-I wish to say what I think and feel today,
  with the proviso that tomorrow perhaps
  I shall contradict it all.

             RALPH WALDO EMERSON

-I always intertain great hopes.

      ROBERT FROST

-There is just one life for each of us: our own.

        EURIPDES

-A musician must make music, an artist must
  paint, a poet must write, if he be at peace with
  himself. What a man can be, he must be.

                 ABRAHAM MASLOW

-No man who is occupied in doing a very difficult
  thing and doing it very well, ever loses his self
  respect.

                  GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

-As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how
  to live.

        JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

-Solitude, in the sense of being often alone, is essential
 to any depth of meditation or of character; and solitude
 in the presence of natural beauty and grandeur is the
 cradle of thought and aspiration which are not only good
 for the individual, but which society could ill do without.

                JOHN S. MILL

-Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and
prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us.

              BILL W.