Nonduality Salon Highlights, #3265

If you are eager to be nothing
before you know who you are,
you rob yourself of your true being.
Until you understand nothingness
you will never know true Faith.

- Rumi
"Rumi - Whispers of the Beloved"
Selected and translated by
Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
posted to Along The Way

Starlight and Non-being
(from Thomas Merton's "The Way of Chuang-tzu")

Starlight asked Non-being: "Master, are
you? Or are you not?"
Since he received no answer whatever,
Starlight set himself to watch for Non-Be-
ing. He waited to see if Non-Being would
put in an appearance.
He kept his gaze fixed on the deep Void,
hoping to catch a glimpse of Non-Being.
All day long he looked, and he saw
nothing. He listened, but heard nothing.
He reached out to grasp, and grasped
nothing.
Then Starlight exclaimed at last, "This
is IT!"
"This is the furthest yet! Who can reach it?
I can comprehend the absence of Being
But who can comprehend the absence of
Nothing?
If now, on top of all this, Non-
Being IS,
Who can comprehend it?"

---
gill
posted to Allspirit Inspiration

	*When my Beloved appears,* By *Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi* (1165 - 1240) English version by Reynold A. Nicholson When my Beloved appears, With what eye do I see Him? With His eye, not with mine, For none sees Him except Himself. -- from The Mystics of Islam, by Reynold A. Nicholson / Photo by tanakawho / *www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com* *A Poem for the Sefirot as a Wheel of Light* By *Naftali Bacharach* (17th Century) English version by Jerome Rothenberg and Harris Lenowitz (the rim) & going 'round the ten sefirot of the ball & orbit of the world of first space . . . . . . . . . (the spokes) 1 crown light from light extreme light 2 wisdom splendor from splendor hidden light 3 understanding sparkle from sparkle sparkling light 4 greatness splendor from splendor pure light 5 power light from splendor of light pure 6 beauty sparkle from light light shining 7 victory light from sparkle light refined 8 majesty splendor from sparkle light bright 9 foundation sparkle from splendor purer light pure pure 10 kingdom most precious precious shining light is -- from A Big Jewish Book: Poems and Other Visions of the Jews from Tribal Times to the Present, Edited by Jerome Rothenberg This is not really a poem in the normal sense. It is actually a translation into verse form of a Kabbalistic meditation image, the Kabbalistic Tree of Life envisioned as a circle. It is a mandala of Hebrew characters drawn in the shape of a wheel with the writing forming spokes and a rim. www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com
The Tree of Life

The Uniter of Worlds The Tree of Life is an important symbol in nearly every culture. http://altreligion.about.com/library/weekly/aa102902a.htm