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