Listening

---LISTENING ----
What is the deep listening? Sama is
a greeeting from the secret ones inside

the heart, a letter. The branches of
your intelligence grow new leaves in

the wind of this listening. The body
reaches a peace. Rooster sound comes,

reminding you of your love for dawn.
The reed flute and the singer's lips:

the knack of how spirit breathes into
us becomes as simple and ordinary as

eating and drinking. The dead rise with
the pleasure of listening. If someone

can't hear a trumpet melody, sprinkle
dirt on his head and declare him dead.

Listen, and feel the beauty of your
separation, the unsayable absence.

There's a moon inside every human being.
Learn to be companions with it. Give

more of your life to this listening. As
brightness is to time, so you are to

the one who talks to the deep ear in
your chest. I should sell my tongue

and buy a thousand ears when that
one steps near and begins to speak.

— Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273)
The Glance: Songs of Soul-Meeting
translated by Coleman Barks
Viking Penguin, NY (1999)

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

You give but little - Khalil Gibran

"You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have--and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.

And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers... and you are all receivers... assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the freehearted earth for mother, and God for father."

( "On Giving": Kahlil Gibran )

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

James Allen Quotes - As A Man Thinketh

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Nothing Lasts Forever

----Nothing lasts forever -----
No one lives forever.
Keep that in mind,
And love,

Our life is not the same old burden,
Our path is not the same long journey,
The flower fades and dies,
We must pause to weave,
Perfection in music,
Keep that in mind,
And love.

My beloved,
In you I find refuge.
Love droops towards sunset,
To be drowned in golden shadows,
Love must be called from its play,
And love must be born again to be free,
Keep that in mind,
And love.

My beloved,
In you I find refuge,
Without seeing my love,
I cannot sleep.
Lets us hurry to gather our flowers,
Before they are plundered by the passing winds,
It quickens our blood,
And brightens our eyes,
To snatch kisses that would vanish,
If we delayed.
Our life is eager,
Our desires are keen
For time rolls by,
Keep that in mind,
And love.

My beloved,
In you I find refuge.
Beauty is sweet for a short time,
And then it is gone,
Knowledge is precious,

But we will never have time to complete it,
All is done and finished,
In eternal heaven,
But our life here is eternally fresh,
Keep that in mind,
And love.

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (9 of 10)

---The Mirror -------
(Read by : Debra Winger)
We are the mirror as well as the face in it.
We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity.
We are pain and what cures pain both.
We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.
I want to hold you close like a lute so we can cry out with loving.
You would rather throw stones at a mirror?
I am your mirror, and here are the stones.

---- Look at Your Eyes ----
(Read by: Noah Hutton/Debra Winger)
I am so small I can barely be seen.
How can this great love be inside me?
Look at your eyes, they are small but they
see enormous things.

---- Looking for Love ------
(Read by : Rosa Parks)
God is within
My heart is in harmony with my head
my spirit soars as a bird in search of new sky,
The innocence of my life releases the God I love everywhere.

---- Some Kiss ------
(Read by : Coleman Barks)
There is some kiss we want
with our whole lives,
the touch of spirit on the body.
Seawater begs the pearl
to break its shell.
And the lily, how passionately it needs some wild darling!
At night, I open the window and ask the moon to come
and press its face against mine.
Breathe into me.
Close the language-door
and open the love-window.
The moon won’t use the door,
only the window

----The Freshness----
(Read by : Coleman Barks)
When it's cold and raining,
you are more beautiful.

And the snow brings me
even closer to your lips.

The inner secret, that which was never born,
you are that freshness, and I am with you now.

I can't explain the goings,
or the comings. You enter suddenly,
and I am nowhere again.
Inside the majesty.

----- My Beloved -----
(Read by : Chris Barron)
Know that my beloved is hidden from everyone
Know that she is beyond the belief of all beliefs
Know that in my heart she is as clear as the MOON
Know that she is the life in my body and in my soul

---- The Hunt -------
(Read by : Deepak Chopra)
The Lover comes, the Lover comes!
Open the way for him!
He’s looking for a heart,
Let’s show him one.
I scream
“What you come to hunt is me!”
He says laughingly,
“I’m here not to hunt you but to save you.”

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (8 of 10)

-----The Agony and Ecstasy of Divine Discontent-----
(Read by : Sonja Sohn)
In the orchard and rose garden
I long to see your face.
In the taste of Sweetness
I long to kiss your lips.
In the shadows of passion
I long for your love.

Oh! Supreme Lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.

By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
And lose myself
In the mountains and the desert.

These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
And feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.

I’m sick of mortal kings.
I long to see your light.
With lamps in hand
The sheikhs and mullahs roam
The dark alleys of these towns
Not finding what they seek.

You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing your praises
But stand mute
With the agony of wishing in my heart.

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (7 of 10)

----The Mythical Lover -----
(Read by : Gautama Chopra)
My love for you has driven me insane
I wander aimlessly the ruins of my life , my old self a stranger to me
Because of your love I have broken with my past
My longing for you keeps me in this moment , My Passion gives me courage
I look for you in my innermost being
I used to read
the myths of love
Now I have become
a mythical lover

--- I am and I am Not ----
(Read by : Deepak Chopra)
I'm drenched
in the flood
which has yet to come

I'm tied up
in the prison
which has yet to exist...

Not having played
the game of chess
I'm already the checkmate

Not having tasted
a single cup of your wine
I'm already drunk

Not having entered
the battlefield
I'm already wounded and slain

I no longer
know the difference
between image and reality

Like the shadow
I am
And
I am not

---The Agony of Lovers----
(Read by : Laura Day)
The agony of lovers
burns with the fire of passion.
Lovers leave traces of where they've been.
The wailing of broken hearts
is the doorway to God."

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (6 of 10)

--- Surrender ------
(Read by : Deepak Chopra)
In love...nothing is eternal, but drinking your wine.
There is no reason for bringing my life to you,
other than losing it. I said, I just want to know you,
and then disappear. She said, knowing me does not mean dying.

----Defeated by Love-----
(Read by : Sussan Deyhim)
The sky was lit by the splendor of the moon,
so powerful I fell to the ground.
Your love has made me sure
I am ready to forsake this worldly life
and surrender to the magnificence of your being.

--- Lost in the Wilderness ---
(Read by : Deepak Chopra)
Oh lovers, where are you going? Who are you looking for?
Your beloved is right here. She lives in your own neighbourhood.
Her face is veiled. She hides behind screens calling for you,
while you search and lose yourself in the wilderness and the desert.
Cease looking for flowers, there blooms a garden in your own home.
While you go looking for trinkets, your treasure house awaits you in your own being. There is no need for suffering, God is here!

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (5 of 10)

---Dying to Love ----
(Read by : Robert A.F. Thurman)
Die! Die!
Die in this love!
If you die in this love
your soul will be renewed.

Die! Die!
Don't fear the death
of that which is known
If you die to the temporal
you will become timeless

Die! Die!
Cut off those Chains
that hold you prisoner
to the world of attachment

Die! Die!
Die to the deathless
and you will be eternal

Die! Die!
and come out of this cloud
When you leave the cloud
you will be the effulgent moon

Die! Die!
Die to the din and the nouise
of mundane concerns
In the silence of love
you will find the spark of life

--- The privileged lovers--------
(Read by : Deepak Chopra)
The moon has become a dancer at this festival of love. This dance of light, this sacred blessing, this divine love beckons us to a world beyond, that only lovers can see with their eyes of fiery passion. They are the chosen ones who have surrendered. Once they were particles of light, now they are the radiant sun. They have left behind the world of deceat-full games. They are the privileged lovers who created new worlds with their eyes of fiery passion.

--- Precious Love ----
(Read by : Deepak Chopra)
Oh God!
I have discovered love!
How marvelous!
How good!
How beautiful it is!

My Body is warm
from the heat of this love
How secret!
How deep
How obvious it is!

I offer my salutations
to the stars and the moon
to all my brothers and all my sisters
I offer my salutations
to the spirit of passion
that aroused and excited this universe
and all it contains

I have fallen
unable to rise
What kind of trap is this?
What chains have tied my hands and feet?

It is so strange
and so wonderful
this loving helplessness of mine

Be silent
do not reveal the secret
of my precious love

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (4 of 10)

--- I am yours -----
(Read By: Robert John Burke)
Because the idol is your face, I have become an idolater,
Because the wine is from your cup, I have become a drunkard.
In the existence of your love, I have become non existent.
This non existence linked to you is better than all existence.

--- Behine the Scenes ----
(Read by: Blythe Danner)
Is it your face that adorns this garden?
Is it your fragrance that intoxicates this garden?
Is it your Spirit that has made this brook a river of wine?
Hundreds have looked for you, and died searching in this garden,
where you hide behind the scenes.
But this pain is not for those who come as lovers.
You are easy to find here.
You are in the breeze and in this river of wine.

--- Looking for Your Face ---
(Read by: Jared Harris)
From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for

Today I have found you
and those who laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you
with a hundred eyes

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow

My soul is screaming in ecstacy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
and you have made radiant for me
the earth and sky

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer

----The Meaning of Love ------
(Read By: Goldie Hawn)
Both light and shadow are the dance of Love.
Love has no cause, it is the astrolabe of God's secrets.
Lover and loving are inseparable and timeless.

Although I may try to describe love,
when I experience it, I am speechless.
Although I may try to write about love, I am rendered helpless.
My pen breaks, and the paper slips away
at the ineffable place where lover loving and loved are one.
Every moment is made glorious by the light of Love.

--- Aroused Passion---
(Read By: Deepak Chopra)
Oh God
Let all lovers be contents
Give them happy endings
Let their lives be celebrations
Let their hearts dance in the fire of your love

My sweetheart
you have aroused my passion
Your touch has filled me with desire
I am no longer separate from you

These are precious moments
I beseech you
Don't let me wait
Let me merge with you

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (3 of 10)

Jelaluddin Rumi, the 13th century mystic poet, was truly one of the most passionate and profound poets in history. Now, today his presence still remains strong, due in part to how his words seem to drip of the divine, and startle a profound rememberance that links all back to the Soul-Essence. Born in what is present day Afghanistan in 1207, he produced his master work the Masnawi which consists of over 60,000 poems before he died in 1273.

--- The Alchemy of Love -----
(Read By: Deepak Chopra)
You come to us
from another world

From beyond the stars
and void of space.
Transcendent, Pure,
Of unimaginable beauty,
Bringing with you
the essence of love.

You transform all
who are touched by you.
Mundane concerns,
troubles, and sorrows
dissolve in your presence,
Bringing joy
to ruler and ruled
To peasant and King.

You bewilder us
with your grace.
All evils
transform into
goodness.

You are the master alchemist.

You light the fire of love
in earth and sky
in heart and soul
of every being.

Through your loving
existence and nonexistence merge.
All opposites unite.
All that is profane
becomes sacred again.

-------Caught in the Fire of Love ----
(Read By: Martin Sheen)

My heart is on fire
In my madness I roam the desert
The flames of my passion
devour the wind and the sky
My cries of longing,
my waves of sorrow are tormenting my soul
You wait patiently
looking into my intoxicated eyes
You accept my passion
with the serenity of Love
You are the master of existence
One day I shall be a Lover, like You

---- THE AWAKENING --------
(Read By: Deepak Chopra)

In the early dawn of happiness
you gave me three kisses
so that I would wake up
to this moment of love

I tried to remember in my heart
what I'd dreamt about
during the night
before I became aware
of this moving
of life

I found my dreams
but the moon took me away
It lifted me up to the firmament
and suspended me there
I saw how my heart had fallen
on your path
singing a song

Between my love and my heart
things were happening which
slowly slowly
made me recall everything

You arouse me with your touch
although I can't see your hands.
You have kissed me with tenderness
although I haven't seen your lips
You are hidden from me.

But it is you who keeps me alive

Perhaps the time will come
when you will tire of kisses
I shall be happy
even for insults from you
I only ask that you
keep some attention on me.

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (2 of 10)

--- The Lover's Passion ----
(Read By: Deepak Chopra)
A lover knows only humility, he has no choice.
He steals into your alley at night, he has no choice.
He longs to kiss every lock of your hair, don’t fret, he has no choice.
In his frenzied love for you, he longs to break the chains of his imprisonment, he has no choice

---Do you love me----
(Read By: Demi Moore)
A lover asked his beloved,
Do you love yourself more
than you love me?
The beloved replied,
I have died to myself
and I live for you.

I've disappeared from myself
and my attributes.
I am present only for you.

I have forgotten all my learnings,
but from knowing you
I have become a scholar.

I have lost all my strength,
but from your power
I am able.

If I love myself
I love you.
If I love you
I love myself.

---- Come to me --------
(Read By: Deepak Chopra)
I am your lover, come to my side,
I will open the gate to your love.
Come settle with me, let us be neighbours to the stars.
You have been hiding so long, endlessly drifting in the sea of my love.
Even so, you have always been connected to me.
Concealed, revealed, in the unknown, in the un-manifest.
I am life itself.

You have been a prisoner of a little pond,
I am the ocean and its turbulent flood.
Come merge with me,
leave this world of ignorance.
Be with me, I will open the gate to your love.

---Desire-----
(Read By: Deepak Chopra)
I desire you more than food or drink
My body my senses my mind hunger for your taste
I can sense your presence in my heart
although you belong to all the world
I wait with silent passïon for one gesture one glance
from you."

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Gift of Love (1 of 10)

"The innocence of my life releases the God I love everywhere." These are the words of Rumi, 13th-century poet and founder of the Whirling Dervishes of Sufism, as spoken by the mature and melodious voice of Rosa Parks. Her voice, American history, those words, intense longing: Power. In celebration of the human spirit, The Gift of Love is a recitation of the love poems of Rumi by Dr. Chopra and celebrity friends, including Madonna, Goldie Hawn, and Robert A.F. Thurman. Sensual Middle Eastern-influenced music backs the reading and provides breaks between sections such as "Love Drunk" and "The Light of Love." The Gift of Love is sincere and potent stuff, unafraid of the deep physical, spiritual, and mental hunger that Rumi's words not only taste, but roll about the tongue and swallow whole. --Paige La Grone

--- My Burning Heart ----
My heart is burning with love
All can see this flame
My heart is pulsing with passion
like waves on an ocean.

My friends have become strangers
and I’m surrounded by enemies.
But I’m free as the wind
no longer hurt by those who reproach me.

I’m at home wherever I am
And in the room of lovers
I can see with closed eyes
the beauty that dances.

Behind the veils
intoxicated with love
I too dance the rhythm
of this moving world.
I have lost my senses
in my world of lovers...


--- Bittersweet-----
In my hallucination
I saw my beloved's flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel
I saw myself as the source of existence

I was there in the beginning
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow

I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:

Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that

I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl

I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you

Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns

---Intoxicated by Love----
Because of your love
I have lost my sobriety
I am intoxicated
by the madness of love

In this fog
I have become a stranger to myself
I'm so drunk
I've lost the way to my house

In the garden
I see only your face
From trees and blossoms
I inhale only your fragrance

Drunk with the ecstasy of love
I can no longer tell the difference
between drunkard and drink
Between Lover and Beloved

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Here I am

"The original words of Rumi are so deep, so perfect, so touching, that when one man repeats them hundreds and thousands of people are moved to tears. They cannot help penetrating the heart. This shows how much Rumi himself was moved to have been able to pour out such living words. - Hazrat Inayat Khan

Here is another example of Rumi masterpiece entitled "Here I am"

--------- Here I am -------------

All night, a man called “Allah”
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then the Devil said, “Hey! Mr Gullible!
How comes you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard Allah say, “Here, I am”?
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what. Nothing!”

The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And fell into a deep sleep.
In a dream, he met Abraham, who asked,
“Why are you regretting praising Allah?”

The man said, “ I called and called
But Allah never replied, “Here I am.”
Abraham explained, “Allah has said,
“Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of “Allah”
Waits a thousand replies of “Here I am.”

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark