ARE WE LOST IN PERCEPTIONS AND THE INTERPRETATIONS?

When we don't cover up the world with words and
labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life
that was lost a long time ago when humanity, instead
of using thought,  became possessed by thought. A
depth return to your life. Things regain their newness,
their freshness. And the greatest miracle is the experiencing
of your essential self as prior to any words, thoughts,
mental labels, and images. For this to happen, you need to
disentangle your sense of I, of Beingness, from all the things
it has become mixed up with, that is to say, identified with....
        The quicker you are in attaching verbal or mental labels
to things, people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless
your reality becomes, and the more deadened you become to
reality,the miracle of life that continuously unfolds within and
around you. In this way, cleverness may be gained, but wisdom
is lost, and so are joy, love, creativity, and aliveness. They are
concealed in the still gap between the perception and the
interpretation. Of course we have to use words and thoughts.
They have their own beauty- but do we need to become
imprisoned in them?
       Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp,
which isn't very much. Language consist of five basic sounds
produced by vocal cords. They are the vowels a, e, i, o, u. The
other sounds are consonants produced by air pressure s, f, g, and
so forth. Do you believe some combination of such basic sounds
could ever explain who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the
universe, or even what a tree or stone is in its depth?  

REF:A NEW EARTH BY ECKHART TOLLE

MAHMOUD OFFERS AYAZ THE COMMAND OF HIS ARMIES

One day Mahmoud's unconquered armies made
A splendid pageant drawn up on parade;
And on a mountain-side to watch the show
Of elephants and soldiers spread below,
The king and his two favourite courtiers stood,
Hassan, the slave Ayaz, and Shah Mahmoud.
The serried soldiers, jostling elephants,
Seemed like a plague of locusts or of ants;
More armies at that moment filled the plain
That all the world has seen or will again,
And Mahmoud said: "Ayaz, my child, look down-
All this is yours, dear boy; accept the crown."
The great king spoke-Ayaz seemed quite unmoved,
Lost in his private thoughts; Hassan reproved
The youth and said: "Where are your manners, slave?
Think of the honour that our king just gave!
And yet you stand there like an imbecile,
And do not even murmur thanks or kneel-
How can you justify such gross neglect?
Is this the way you show your king respect?"
Ayaz was silent till this sermon's end,
Then said: "Two answers came to me, my friend.
First then, a slave could grovel on the ground
Or gabble thanks and have the heavens resound
With some self-advertising, long address-
And climb above the king or say far less;
But who am I to interpose my voice
Between the king and his asserted choice?
The slave is his, and regal dignity
Demands that he decide and act, not me.
If in his praise I see both worlds unite,
It is no more than such a monarch's right,
Can I-unworthy to be called his slave-
Comment on how he chooses to behave?"
And when Hassan had heard him speak he said:
"Ayaz a thousand blessings on your head;
Your words convince me and I now believe
That you deserve the favour you receive-
But what's the second of your answers, pray?"
Ayaz replied: "Hassan, I cannot say
Whilst you are here-you do not share the throne.
This mystery is for king alone."
The king dismissed Hassan. "There's no one here,"
He said; "now make your hidden secret clear."
Ayaz replied: "When generosity
Persuades my sovereign lord to glance at me,
My being vanishes in that bright light
Which radiates from his refulgent sight;
His splendour shines, and purified I rise,
Dispersed to nothing by his sun-like eyes.
Existence has deserted me, so how
Could I prostrate myself before you now?
If you see anyone or anything,
It is not me you see-it is the king!
The honour you continually renew
Are offered, given and receive by you;
And from a shadow lost within the sun
What kind of service could you hope for? None!
That shadow called Ayaz must disappear-
Do what you wish; you know he is not here."

                                                        ATTAR

EXPERIMENT BY MASARU EMOTO TO SEE THE EFFECT OF WORDS ON GROWTH

"---- In my previous book, I explained how to put
cooked rice in three glass jars, and to one of the jars
we said "FOOL!" To another we said "THANK YOU."
And we simply ignored the rice in the third bottle.
The rice that was told "THANK YOU" fermented and
had quite a nice fragrance. The rice that was told "FOOL!"
darkened and rotted. The rice that was ignored turned black
and emitted a highly repugnant smell.
      However, that's not the end of the story. I took these same
 jars of rice to an elementary school, and the student said
"THANK YOU" to the rice in all three containers. It wasn't
long before the rice in all three containers fermented and
started to emit a pleasant smell- even the rice that had spoiled.
     This indicates that even that which is dying and decaying
can be brought back to life by caring attention, kind words,
and positive thoughts......"


REF: THE SECRET LIFE OF WATER

ANY EXCUSE WILL DO

   Someone has said, "Where the heart is willing, it will find
a thousand ways, but where the heart is weak, it will find a
thousand excuses."
    It's like the man who asked his farming neighbour if he could
borrow his rope.
    "I'm sorry," said the farmer. "I'm using it right now to tie up
my milk."
     "You can't use a rope to tie up milk," laughed the neighbor.
      "I know that," replied the farmer, "but when you don't want
to do something, one excuse is as good as another."

Benjamin Franklin said, "I never knew a man who was good at
making excuses who was good at anything else."

REF:THE SPEAKER'S SOURCEBOOK BY GLENN VAN EKEREN

WHOM ARE YOU DECEIVING

 I love the story of the man who was promoted into a
management position. He felt very insecure being ushered
into his new office. Nevertheless, he looked proudly at his
new surroundings as he settled into his overstuffed office
chair. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The new
manager, wanting to look busy, picked up the receiver of
his phone. Then he asked the visitor in. When the young man
 entered, the new manager nodded toward him saying, "just a
minute. I have to finish this call." Positioning the receiver, he
continued into the phone, "Yes sir, I can handle that account.
I know it's the largest this company has ever had. You can count
on me. You're welcome sir. Good-bye." The manager put the
 phone down and turned to his visitor. He smiled and asked,
"Now, what can I do for you?" The young man smiled and
answered, "Well I just came in to connect your telephone."

REF: THE SPEAKER'S SOURCEBOOK BY GLENN VAN EKEREN

COOPERATION

There is a story about four men named Everybody, Somebody,
Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done,
and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that
 Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody
did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's
job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, and Nobody
 realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody
blamed Somebody, when actually Nobody did what Anybody could
 have done.


REF:THE SPEAKER'S SOURCEBOOK BY GLENN VAN EKEREN

ARE YOU A TY COBB OR A MAX CAREY?

     Every baseball fan knows that Ty Cobb was one of
 baseball's greatest players.His record for stealing bases
stood for years. Cobb stole 96 bases the year he set the
record.
     Ask baseball fans if they know Max Carey, and most
 of them will shake their heads and ask, "Who was Max Carey?"
Carey, too, had baseball talent. In fact, one season he attempted
53 stolen bases and succeeded 51 times- an unbelievable 96%.
Ty Cobb stole 96 bases the year he set the record, but he tried
134 times. That is only 71%. Cobb was willing to chance failure,
and because of it, he became legendary in the baseball Hall of
Fame. Max Carey, who played it safe time after time, is not
 remembered today.

Like Ty Cobb you're going to make mistakes. But keep trying
win often enough, people will forget the times you failed. To
succeed you need to take risks. Don't always play safe.

 REF: THE SPEAKER'S SOURCEBOOK BY GLENN EKEREN

GOD ON LINE

It was raining hard in TX. All the phone connections seems
like crawling child. Internet was like a bleak, weak old man;
and my handsome bald husband was coming from Houston.
He is a bad driver at night because he has a record of sleeping
on wheel, if it is dark and quiet; even most romantic or upbeat
song cannot keep his eyes open so thought of C.D. player aid
was also no help. Anxiety and fear was giving me a pounding
heartbeat and his safe coming home seems like a distance thought.
I was worried and didn't know what to do? Right then a sweet voice
from inside whispered, "try God on line this connection is always
strong. Never get effected even in bad weather, does not need
any external device never out of charge. In fact always InCharge,
PowerFull, and connected. This thought was a strong thought
"THE WORD" (what ever name you use to address divine) came
in my heart sweeping all the fears and wiping all the tears replacing
it with trust and smiley face. Right then the bell rang and my hubby was
 on the door.
    Instantly my heart said: "THANK YOU GOD ON LINE."

TWO KINDS OF INTELLIGENCE

There are two kinds of intelligence: one acquired,
as a child in school memorizes facts and concepts
from books and from what the teacher says,
collecting information from the traditional sciences
as well as from the new sciences.

With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
in regards to your competence in retaining
information. Your stroll with this intelligence
in and out of field of knowledge, getting always more
marks on your preserving tablets.

There is another kind of tablet, one
already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its spring box. A freshness
in the center of the chest. This other intelligence
does not turn yellow or stagnate. It's fluid,
and it doesn't move from outside to inside
through the conduits of plumbing-learning.

This second knowing is a fountainhead
from within you, moving out.

                                                    RUMI

A SLAVE'S FREEDOM

Loghman of Sarrakhs cried: "Dear God, behold
Your faithful servant, poor, bewildered, old-
An old slave is permitted to go free;
I've spent my life in patient loyalty,
I'm bent with grief, my black hair's turned to snow;
Grant manumission, Lord, and let me go."
A voice replied: "When you have gained release
From mind and thought, your slavery will cease;
You will be free when these two disappear."
He said: "Lord, it is You whom I revere;
What are the mind and all its ways to me?"
And left them there and then- in ecstasy
He danced and clapped his hand and boldly cried:
"Who am I now? The slave I was has died;
What's freedom, servitude, and where are they?
Both happiness and grief have fled away;
I neither own nor lack all qualities;
My blindness looks on secret mysteries-
I know not whether You are I, I You;
I lose myself in You; there is no two."

                                                          ATTAR

SOAP THAT FLOATS

In 1879, Procter and Gamble's best seller was candles.
But the company was in trouble. Thomas Edison had
invented the light bulb, and it looked as if candles would
become obsolete. Their fears become reality when the
market for candles plummeted since they were now sold
only for special occasions.
                               The outlook appeared to be bleak for
Procter and Gamble. However, at this time, it seemed that
destiny played a dramatic part in pulling the struggling
company from the clutches of  bankruptcy. A forgetful
employee at a small factory in Cincinnati forgot to turn off
 his machine when he went to lunch. The result? A frothing
mass of lather filled with air bubbles. He almost threw the
stuff away but instead decided to make it into soap. The soap
floated. Thus, Ivory soap was born and become the mainstay
of the Proctor and Gamble company.
                        Why was soap that float such a hot item at that
 time? In Cincinnati, during that period, some people bathed in
the Ohio River. Floating soap would never sink and consequently
never got lost. So, Ivory soap became a best seller in Ohio and
eventually across the country also.

                  Like Proctor and Gamble never give up when things
go wrong or when seemingly unsurmountable problems arise.
Creativity put to work can change a problems and turn it into
a gold mine.

REF:THE SPEAKER'S SOURCEBOOK BY GLENN VAN EKEREN

A GOLDEN COMPASS

Forget every idea of right and wrong
     Any classroom ever taught you

                       Because
An empty heart, a tormented mind,
    Unkindness, jealousy and fear

    Are always the testimony
You have been completely fooled!

     Turn your back on those
Who would imprison your wondrous spirit
      With deceit and lies.

     Come, join the honest company
          Of the King's beggars-
Those gamblers, scoundrels and divine clowns
     And those astonishing fair courtesans
       Who need Divine Love every night.

        Come join the courageous
             Who have no choice
     But to bet their entire world
                  That indeed,
              Indeed, God is Real.

   I will lead you into the Circle
Of the Beloved's cunning thieves,
         Those playful royal rogues-
Those ones you can trust for true guidance-
              Who can aid you
      In this Blessed Calamity of life.

                      Hafiz,
      Look at the Perfect One
        At the Circle's Center:

He Spins and Whirls like a Golden Compass,
            Beyond all that is Rational,

             To show this dear world

               That Everything,
             Everything in Existence
                Does point to God.

                                         HAFIZ

IF YOU THINK

 If you think you are beaten, you are.
 If you think you dare not, you don't!
If you want to win, but think you can't,
       It's almost a cinch you won't

 If you think you'll lose, you're lost;
      For out in the world we find
 Success begins with a fellow's will;
       It's all in the state of the mind.

   Life's battles don't always go
 To the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
   Is the man who thinks he can.

                                         WALKER D. WINTLE

TEMPORARY SETBACK- NOT PERMANENT DEFEAT

Someone once challenged Thomas Alva Edison by reminding him
that he failed twenty-five thousand times while experimenting with the
storage battery. "No, I didn't fail," the brilliant inventor replied. "I
 discovered 24,999 ways that the storage battery does not work." In his
lifetime Edison received 1,093 patents for inventing devices such as the
phonograph, motion pictures, the electric pen, waxed paper, and, of course,
the incandescent lamp.

                  Failure was no stranger to Edison. Yet he refused to accept it as a
permanent defeat. His long, remarkable career was inspired by the desire to
make things work. At the time of his death, Edison left some 2,900 notebooks
crammed with notes of his work ideas.

REF:THE SPEAKER'S SOURCEBOOK BY GLENN VAN EKEREN

DON'T QUIT

Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous composer-pianist, was scheduled
to perform at a great concert hall in America. It was an evening to
remember-black tuxedos and long evening dresses, a high-society
extravaganza. Present in the audience that evening were a mother with
her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, he squirmed constantly
in his seat. His mother hoped her boy would be encouraged to practice
the piano if he could just hear the immortal Paderewski at the keyboard.
So-against his wishes- he had come.
                As she turned to talk with her friends, her son could stay
seated no longer. He slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the
 ebony concert grand Steinway and its leather tufted stool on the huge stage
flooded with blinding lights. Without much notice from the sophisticated
audience, the boy sat down at the stool, staring wide-eyed at the black-and-white
 keys. He placed his small, trembling fingers in the right location and began to play
"Chopstick." The roar of the crowd was hushed as hundreds of frowning faces
turned in his direction. Irritated and embarrassed, they began to shout:
                 "Get that boy away from there!"
                  "Who'd bring a kid that young in here?"
                    "Where's his mother?"
                    "Somebody stop him!"

           Backstage, the master overheard the sounds out front and quickly put
together in his mind what was happening. Hurriedly, he grabbed his coat and
rushed toward the stage. Without one word of announcement, he stooped over
behind the boy, reached around both sides, and began to improvise a counter-melody
to harmonize with and enhance "Chopsticks." As the two of them played together,
Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, "Keep going. Don't quit, son. Keep on
playing. Don't stop. Don't quit."

                   And so it is with us. We hammer away on our project, which seems about
as significant as "Chopsticks." in a concert hall. And about the time we are ready to give
 it up, along comes the master, who leans over and whispers, "Now keep going. Don't quit.
Keep on. Don't stop. Don't quit" as He improvises on our behalf, providing just the right
touch at just the right moment.

                                                                CHARLES SWINDOLL

THE DRUNK AND THE CONSTABLE

A man whose job it was to keep the peace
Beat up a drunk, who fought for his release
And cried: "It's you who's tippled too much wine;
Your rowdiness is ten times worse than mine-
Who's causing this disturbance, you or me?
But yours is drunkenness that men can't see;
Leave me alone! Let justice do its worst-
Enforce the law and beat yourself up first!"'

                                                   ATTAR

THE PUPIL WHO ASKED FOR ADVICE

There was a pupil once who begged his sheikh:
"Give me some good advice, for pity's sake!"
The sheikh cried: "Leave me- go on, get away,
And if you itch for what I've got to say,
First wash your face- musk can't drive out a stink;
Words are no good to someone sick with drink!"

                                                                   ATTAR

THE KING WHO STOPPED AT THE PRISON GATES

A king returned once to his capital.
His subjects had prepared a festival,
And each to show his homage to the crown
Had help to decorate the glittering town.
The prisoners has no wealth but iron gyves,
Chains, severed heads, racked limbs and ruined lives-
With such horrific ornaments they made
A sight to greet their monarch's cavalcade.
The king rode through the town and saw the way
His subjects solemnized the happy day,
But nothing stopped the progress of his train
Till he approached the prison and drew rein.
There he dismounted and had each man told
That he was free and would be paid in gold.
A courtier asked the king: "what does this mean?
To think of all the pageantry you've seen-
Brocade ans satin shinning everywhere,
Musk and sweet ambergris to scent the air,
Jewels scattered by the handful on the ground-
And not so much as once did you look round;
Yet here you stop-before the prison gate!
Are severed heads a way to celebrate?
What is there here to give you such delight?
Torn limbs and carcasses? A grisly sight!
And why did you dismount? Should you sit down
With all the thieves and murderers in town?"
The king replied: "The others make a noise
Like rowdy children playing with new toys;
Each takes part in some festivity,
Careful to please himself as much as me-
They do their duty and are quite content,
But here in prison more than duty's meant.
My words is a law here, and they've plainly shown
This spectacle was made for me alone.
I see obedience here; need I explain
Why it is here I'm happy to draw rein?
The others celebrate in pompous pride,
Conceited, giddy and self -satisfied,
But these poor captives sacrifice their will
And bow to my commands through good and ill-
They have no business but to spend each breath
In expectation of the noose and death,
Yet they submit- and to my grateful eyes
Their prison is a flower-strewn paradise."
Wisdom accepts authority and waits;
The king paused only at the prison gates.

                                                            ATTAR

A KING WHO PLACED MIRRORS IN HIS PALACE

There lived a king; his comeliness was such
The world could not acclaim his charm too much.
The world's wealth seemed a portion of his grace;
It was a miracle to view his face.
If he had rivals,then I know of none;
The earth resounded with this paragon.
When riding through his streets he did not fail
To hide his features with a scarlet veil.
Whoever scanned the veil would lose his head;
Whoever spoke his name was left for dead,
The tongue ripped from his mouth; whoever thrilled
With passion for this king was quickly killed.
A thousand for his love expired each day,
And those who saw his face, in blank dismay
Would rave and grieve and mourn their lives away-
To die for love of that bewitching sight
Was worth a hundred lives without his light.
None could survive his absence patiently,
None could endure this king's proximity-
How strange it was that man could neither brook
The presence nor the absence of his look!
Since few could bear his sight, they were content
To hear the king in sober argument,
But while they listened they endure such pain
As made them long to see their king again.
The king commanded mirrors to be placed
About the palace walls, and when he faced
Their polished surfaces his image shone
With mitigated splendour to the throne.

If you would glimpse the beauty we revere
Look in your heart-its image will appear.
Make of your heart a looking-glass and see
Reflected there the Friend's nobility;
Your sovereign's glory will illuminate
The palace where he reigns in proper state.
Search for this king within your heart; His soul
Reveals itself in atoms of the Whole.
The multitude of forms that masquerade
Throughout the world spring from the Simorgh's shade.
If you catch sight of His magnificence
It is His shadow that beguiles your glance;
The Simorgh's shadow and Himself are one;
Seek them together, twinned in unison.
But you are lost in vague uncertainty....
Pass beyond shadows to Reality.
How can you reach the Simorgh's splendid court?
First find its gateway, and the sun, long-sought,
Erupts through clouds; when victory is won,
Your sight knows nothing but the blinding sun.

                                                          ATTAR

BIRDSONG FROM INSIDE THE EGG

Sometimes a lover of God may faint
in the presence. Then the beloved bends
and whispers in his ear, "Beggar spread out
your robe. I'll fill it with gold.

I've come to protect your consciousness.
Where was it gone? Come back into awareness!"

This fainting is because
lovers want so much.

A chicken invites a camel into her hen house,
and the whole structure is demolished.

A rabbit nestles down
with its eyes closed
in the arms of a lion.

There is an excess
in spiritual searching
that is profound ignorance.

Let that ignorance be our teacher!
The Friend breathes into one
who has no breath.

A deep silence revives the listening
and the speaking of those two
who meet on the riverbank.

Like the ground turning green in a spring wind.
Like birdsong beginning inside the egg.

Like this universe coming into existence,
the lover wakes, and whirls
in a dancing joy,

then kneels down
in praise.

                                               RUMI

REF:ESSENTIAL RUMI

DYING, LAUGHING

A lover was telling his beloved
how much he loved her, how faithful
he had been, how self-sacrificing, getting up
at dawn every morning, fasting, giving up
wealth and strength and fame,
all for her.

There was a fire in him.
He didn't know where it came from,
but it made him weep and melt like a candle.

"You've done well," she said, "but listen to me.
All this is the decor of love, the branches
and leaves and blossoms. You must live
at the root to be a true lover."
                                            "Where is that!
Tell me!"
                "You've done the outward acts,
but you haven't died. You must die."

When he heard that, he lay back on the ground
laughing, and died. He opened like a rose
that drops to the ground and died laughing.

That laughter was his freedom,
and his gift to the eternal.

As moonlight shines back at the sun,
he heard the call to come home, and went.

When light returns to its source,
it takes nothing
of what it has illuminated.

It may have shone on a garbage dump, or a garden,
or in the center of a human eye. No matter.

It goes, and when it does,
the open plain becomes passionately desolate,
wanting it  back.

                                                       RUMI

REF: THE ESSENTIAL RUMI

A STORY ABOUT ALEXANDER THE GREAT

When Alexander, that unconquered lord,
Who subjugated empires with his sword,
Required a lengthy message to be sent
He dressed up as the messenger and went.
"The king gives such an order," he should say,
And none of those who hurried to obey
Once guessed this messenger's identity-
They had no knowledge of such majesty,
And even if he said: "I am your lord",
The claim was thought preposterous and ignored.
Deluded natures cannot recognize
The royal way that stands before their eyes.

                                                      ATTAR

THE TWO DOCTORS

A Dr. Cheer and a Dr. Gloom
Were summoned to the same sickroom.
"He'll die," said Gloom, "I greatly fear."
"He'll get well," said Dr. Cheer.
The man agreed to follow Gloom,
And soon was lying in his tomb.
"Just as I thought," said Gloom. Said Cheer,
"If he'd hired me, he'd still be here."
They both did well by the patients doom,
Dr. Cheer and Dr. Gloom.

REF: SELECTED FABLES

THE LION IN LOVE

Ages ago when beasts could speak
Some hoped to join the human clique
Notably lions. And with reason-
They equalled men, in that far season
In brain and brawn, and what was more
Could really roar.

Thus when a lion of high degree
Was passing through a meadowy
Place and saw a shepherdess
Whom he was avid to posses,
He went at once to ask her father.
That good man balked: for he would rather
Have had his pretty daughter marry
Someone less scary.

It seemed hard lines to let her go,
But then he thought if he said 'no'
He might wake up to find some morning
That she'd eloped without a warning.
He knew his child was ever keen
For people with a kingly mien,
And had her cap set, that was plain,
Fpr a long mane.

Afraid to bring things to a head
By ousting him, the father said:
"My daughter is delicately fashioned.
As soon as you become impassioned
You'd likely wound her with your claws.
So kindly have on all four paws
The talons trimmed. One other issue:
If this young girl is going to kiss you
With any ardor, she must be
Freed of all anxiety.
So for your own enjoyment, while
You're at it, let them file
Your teeth." The lion, love-demented
Consented.

Behold him now without his teeth,
Without his claws, an empty sheath!
With all his native weapons gone
The helpless lion was set upon
By hounds that easily outmatched him.
They dispatched him.

Ah love, whoever bows to you
Should bid his sanity adieu!

REF: SELECTED FABBLES

THE DEVOUT SLAVE

A negro had a slave devout and wise
Who at an early hour would wake and rise,
Then pray until the sun came peeping through.
His master said: "wake me up early too,
And we can pray together till the dawn."
The slave said: "just before a baby's born,
Who tells the mother 'Now your time draws near?'
She knows it does- her pain has made it clear;
If you have felt this pain you are awake-
No other man can feel it for your sake.
If someone has to rouse you every day,
Then someone else instead of you should pray."
The man without this pain is not a man;
May grief destroy the bragging charlatan!
But one who is entangled in its spell
Forget all thoughts of heaven or of hell.

                                                   ATTAR

GREETING GOD

                 I hear
The nightingale greeting
                  God.

                 I hear
The rain speaking to the roof
             Of my heart.

Like a winter blanket of snow gently
            Tucking in the earth

I let a great yearning within my ken
               Lay down next
                   To Him

                     I hear
    A sorrowful lover being true
No matter what, even if the Beloved seems
                    Cruel,

                   Tonight
There is a jeweled falcon singing in a
     Blessed pain using the tongue
                        Of
                     HAFIZ

I COME BEFORE DAWN

Muhammad says,
                           "I come before dawn
to chain you and drag you off."
It's amazing, and funny, that you have to be pulled away
from being tortured, pulled out
into this Springs garden,
                                     but that is the way it is.
Almost everyone must be bound and dragged here.
Only a few come on their own.

Children have to be made to go to school at first.
Then some of them begin to like it.
                                               They run to school.
They expand with the learning.
                                               Later they receive money
because of something they're learned at school,
and they get really excited. They stay up all night,
as watchful and alive as thieves!

Remember the reward you get for being obedient!

There are two types on the path. Those who come
against their will, the blindly religious people, and those
who obey out of love. The former have ulterior motives.
They want the midwife near, because she give them milk.
The others love the beauty of the nurse.

The former memorise the proof texts of conformity,
and repeat them. The latter disappear
into whatever draws them to God.

Both are drawn from the source.
Any moving from the mover,
Any love from the beloved.

                                         RUMI

WOW! TO THE CREATOR

-In crocodilians, chelonians and some lizard species, the sex of
the young depends on the temperature at which the eggs are
incubated. Higher temperatures tend to produce more males, and
lower temperatures more females.


-A giant tortoise can support a one-tonne weight- about a weight
of an average car.


-Nile crocodiles allow small birds, such as spur-wing plovers, to
walk into their open mouths to pick food from between their teeth.


-Crocodiles often swallow stones to help them grind up their food.
The stone also probably act as ballast, enabling the reptile to float
without tipping over.

-After eating a huge meal, such as a leopard. a python may not need
to eat again for up to 12 months. One rock python was recorded
as going for 2 years and 9 months between meals.

WOW! TO THE CREATOR

-Some moth species drink the tears of
hoofed animals such as cattle, deer, horses,
tapirs, pigs and elephants.


-The largest locust swarms can contain up to
50 billion insects. and over1,000 sq km of land.
Such swarms can devour enough crops in a single
day to feed around half a million people for a whole
year.


-At night, scorpions are said to be able to use the
stars to navigate and orient themselves.


-The Australian water-holding frogs survives long
desert droughts by shedding the outer layers of its
skin to form a cocoon that it fills with water.


-When it find water, a thirsty desert tortoise may
drink more than 40% of its own body weight in
water in just over an hour.

THE VIGIL

Don't go to sleep one night.
What you most want will come to you then.
Warmed by a sun inside, you'll see wonders.
Tonight, don't put your head down.
Be tough, and strength will come.
That which adoration adores
appears at night. Those asleep
may miss it. One night Moses stayed awake
and asked, and saw a light in a tree.

Then he walked at night for ten years,
until finally he saw the whole tree
illuminated. Muhammad rode his horse
through the night sky. The day is for work.
The night for love. Don't let someone
bewitch you. Some people sleep at night.

But not lovers. They sit in the dark
and talk to God, who told David,
"Those who sleep all night every night
and claim to be connected to us, they lie."

Lovers can't sleep when they feel the privacy
of the beloved all around them. Someone
who's thirsty may sleep for a little while,
but he or she will dream of water, a full jar
beside a creek, or the spiritual water you get
from another person. All night, listen
to the conversation. Stay up.
This moment is all there is.

Death will take it away soon enough.
You'll be gone, and this earth will be left
without a sweetheart, nothing but weeds
growing inside thorns.

I'm through. Read the rest of this poem
in the dark tonight.
                        Do I have a head? And feet?

Shams, so loved by Tabrizians, I close my lips.
I wait for you to come and open them.

                                                 RUMI