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Nonduality Highlights: Issue #3902, Sunday, May 23, 2010, Editor: Mark
If I could have known to value what I owned
i've travelled around
raced through every city
while i knew all along
no place could be found
like the city of love
if i could have known
to value what i owned
i would not have suffered
like a fool
the life of a vagabond
i've heard many tunes
all over the globe
all empty
as a kettledrum
except the music of love
it was the sound of
that hollow drum
that made me fall
from the heavens
to this mortal life
i used to soar
among souls
like a heart's flight
winglessly roaming and
celestially happy
i used to drink
like a flower that drinks
without lips or throat
of the wine that overflows
with laughter and joy
suddenly
i was summoned by love
to prepare for a journey
to the temple of
suffering
i cried desperately
i begged and pleaded
and shredded my clothes
not to be sent
to this world
just the way i fear now
going away
to the other world
i was frightened then
to make my descent
love asked me to go
with no fear to be alone
promising to be close
everywhere i go
closer than my veins
love threw its spell
its magic and allure
using coyness and charm
i was totally sold and
bought everything with joy
who am i to resist
love's many tricks
and not to fall
while the whole world
takes love's bait
love showed me
a path but then
lost me on the way
if i could have resisted
i would have found my way
i can show you my friend
surely how you can get there
but here and now
my pen has broken down
before telling you how
- Rumi, Ghazal (Ode) 1509, translation by Nader Khalili,
from Rumi, Fountain of Fire, posted to Sunlight
"Thus have I heard that the blessed one
was staying at Savatti, residing at the Jetas Grove
in Anatha-pin-di-ka's park.
Then in the dark of the night, a radiant deva
illuminated all the Jetas Grove.
She bowed down low before the Blessed One
then standing to one side said:
'Devas are concerned for happiness
and ever long for peace.
The same is true for human-kind.
What then are the highest blessings?
Avoiding those of foolish ways;
Associating with the wise
And honoring those worthy of honor,
These are the highest blessings.
Living in places of suitable kinds,
With the fruits of past good deeds
And guided by the rightful way,
These are the highest blessings.
Accomplished in learning and craftsmen's skills,
With discipline highly trained
And speech that is true and pleasant to hear,
These are the highest blessings.
Providing for mother and father's support
And cherishing wife and child
And ways of work that harm no beings,
These are the highest blessings.
Giving with Dhamma in the heart,
Offering help to relatives and kin
And acting in ways that leave no blame,
These are the highest blessings.
Steadfast in restraint, and shunning evil ways,
Avoiding intoxicants that dull the mind
And heedfulness in all things that arise,
These are the highest blessings.
Respectfulness and of humble ways,
Contentment and gratitude
And hearing the Dhamma frequently taught,
These are the highest blessings.
Patience and willingness to accept one's faults,
Seeing venerated seekers of the truth
And sharing often the words of Dhamma,
These are the highest blessings.
The Holy Life lived with ardent effort;
Seeing for oneself the Noble Truths
And the realization of Nibbana,
These are the highest blessings.
Although involved in worldly ways,
Unshaken the mind remains
And beyond all sorrow, spotless, secure,
These are the highest blessings.
They who live by following this path
Know victory wherever they go
And every place is safe.
These are the highest blessings.'"
- From the Mangala Sutta, posted to DailyDharma
My hut is roofed, comfortable,
free of drafts;
my mind, well-centered,
set free.
I remain ardent.
So, rain-deva.
Go ahead & rain.
- Subhuti, from Theragattha: Poems of the Elder Monks,
found in A Taste of Salt Selections from the Sutta Pitaka