remember you are inside the presence


 

Whatever state you’re in,

remember you are inside the presence.

Out looking for pleasure, there especially —

I have found no delight better than the mix of touch

with love. That taste is the sweetest. When you are tranced

in that, recall who gave you these pleasurable forms and

inclinations. Even when having a brain seizure,

remember how earthquake energy pries

apart mountains and zigzags a stone

wall. Let that core-energy break

your convulsion.

 

When you’re afraid

of a certain man in power, of some

authority binding you, in these anxieties,

as well as in prostration prayer,

taste the presence.

 

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

The Drowned Book

the great crocodile

bahauddin zakariya

 

I tell those around me

that if you turn away from the core,

your soul, you will fall into an unliving stupor.

The great crocodile comes and crushes your ship.

Eyes go one way, ears another; your intelligence

skews beyond reason. This disaster

can visit anyone.

 

When your ability

to choose comes back, your identity

will strengthen; ear and eye will realign;

and you can again be a friend,

a lover, a devotee.

 

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

the drowned book