The clouds

above us join and separate, the

breeze in the courtyard leaves and returns.

Life is like that, so why not relax?

Who can stop us from

celebrating?

Lu Yu

joel rea

Beyond

meditation practice,

there is attitude. A beginner

must learn to cultivate what is called,

“the poise of a dying man”. What is this poise?

It is the poise of knowing what is important and what

is not, and of being accepting and forgiving. Anyone who has

ever been at the bedside of a dying man will understand

this poise. What would the dying man do if someone

were to insult him? Nothing. What would

the dying man do if someone

were to strike him?

Nothing.

As

he lay there,

would he scheme to

become famous or wealthy?

No. If someone who had once offended

him were to ask him for his forgiveness would he

 not give it? Of course he would. A dying man knows

the pointlessness of enmity. Hatred is always

such a wretched feeling. Who wishes to

die feeling hatred in his heart?

No one. The dying

seek love and

peace.

Hsu-Yun 

najwa zebian

I know the way you can get
When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
About a strange look that appears in your eyes
Which even begins to worry your own mirror
And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness
And call an important conference in a tall tree.
They decide which secret code to chant
To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness
That arrays itself against the world
And throws sharp stones and spears into
The innocent
And into one’s self.

O I know the way you can get
If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart
Every sentence your friends and teachers say,
Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale
Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure
From every angle in your darkness
The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once
Trusted.

I know the way you can get
If you have not had a drink from Love’s
Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of
The vital need
To keep remembering God,
So you will come to know and see Him
As being so Playful
And Wanting,
Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:
Bring your cup near me.
For all I care about
Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about
Is giving Love!
 

Hafiz

For every worry

or hurt that chews at your mind,

think of one thing you’re grateful for, however small.

One by one, fill your mind with them. Let them

crowd out the worry and the hurt.

Keep moving.

Maggie Smith

(see also)

Born fatherless, never knew my father.
My mother worked. She didn’t have no way of
keeping me going to school. We don’t have
education, we have inspiration. If I was
educated, I would be a damn fool.

Me don’t have no prejudice about myself.
Why me don’t have no prejudice about myself?
My father was white, my mother black. You know,
dem call me half-caste, or whatever. Well, me don’t
be upon nobody’s side. Me don’t be upon black mon’s side
nor white man’s side but upon God’s side, de mon
who create me, who cause me to come
from black and white.

Reggae music is the the people’s music, reggae music is news.
It’s news about your own self, your own history, things that
they wouldn’t teach you in a school. Reggae music is a
music created by Rasta people. And it carry earth
force, a people rhythm, earth people. You know,
there’s a rhythm of people working,
people moving.

Dreads of the world suffer.
Masses of the people suffer.
And dis music come from the
masses of the people.

Why one race want to be rich and the other one poor?
Why one want to fight on the other? It’s no more of that.
The youth of today say no, that cannot work no more.

How long have I been a Rastafarian?
I am a Rastamon, you know, I stand Rasta.
To say how long is like, again, I say, from Creation,
if you can overstand it that way. Because y’all like
to say 15 years, 10 years, it’s not really so.
It’s from Creation.

The only law which is law is the law of life,
the law of how to live. Me don’t want to get
involved in talking like me is a politician.
Me just want to talk about righteousness.
Jah is Earth’s rightful ruler.

I don’t come to bow, you know, I come to conquer.
I don’t come to bow, I come to conquer.

My home is always where I am. My home is in my head.
My home is what I think about, how I try to settle my mind.
That is my home. My home is not in the material world but there.

I don’t really have no ambition, you know.
I only have one thing I’d really like to see happen.
I’d like to see mankind live together — black, white,
shiny, anyone, you know what I mean? That’s all.

We are revolutionaries.
Me see myself as a revolutionary,
who don’t have no help, nor take no bribe
from no one, but fight it single
handed, with music.

My life is important to me,
but all people life is important.
My life is only important if me can
help plenty people. If my life is just for
me, my own security, then me no want it.
My life is for people. That’s the way me is.

I say to the people that they have a voice inside of
them that talk to them, you know. That is the voice
that people must listen to. Because in everything
that you go and do, there is a wrong way and a
right way. And if you listen good, you will
know the right way. You know? Because
there is a voice inside talkin’ to
everyone. Seen? Seen.

Jah lives, children!