the locusts who descend and eat crops

“now we terminate those who oversee the nuclear weapons, my lord”

 

I have said to the

crude-minded Fakhruddin Razi

and the dull King Khwarazmshah and

several other joyless philosophers, With your way

you leave behind the beauty of flowers and peacefulness

and walk steadily into darkness. You ignore the obvious miracles

in favor of smoke and ghosts. The false self of ego makes your

decisions. You feel confused and blocked, but wisdom

knows that this material world is a door to spirit.

Specific actions are required, and careful

attention must be given

to friendship.

 

We live in a place where

thorns and poisonous plants grow wild,

but fruit trees, roses, and vegetables need tending.

The diligent farming work is virtue. Fakhruddin and Khwarazmshah

disagree. They’re like the locusts who descend and eat crops rather than help

them grow. I wrap myself like Muhammad in this robe of torso, limbs,

and face, this splendid covering of phenomenal existence,

where I grow toward some destiny I know not,

only that I must live fully here

to reach the next.

 

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

the drowned book

 

daniel chatard

 

fight to open every closed door

chet phillips

 

Gradually I began to understand

that it does not matter very much what problem,

whether big or small, is tormenting us; the only thing that

matters is that we be tormented, that we find a ground for being

tormented. In other words, that we exercise our minds in

order to keep certainty from turning us into idiots,

that we fight to open every closed door

we find in front of us.

 

Nikos Kazantzakis

 

increase love and strengthen the will

the universe is one being

 

In order to learn forgiveness

man must learn tolerance first. And there

are people whom man cannot forgive. It is not that he

must not forgive, but it is difficult, beyond his power to forgive,

and in that case the first thing he can do is to forget. The first step

towards forgiveness is to forget. It is true that the finer the

man is the more he is subject to be hurt by the smallest

disturbance that can produce irritation and

inharmony in the atmosphere.

 

A person who gives

and takes hurts is capable of living

an easy and comfortable life in the world.

Life is difficult for the fine person, for he cannot

give back what he receives in the way of hurt, and he can

feel it more than the average person. Many seek protection from

all hurting influences by building some wall around themselves. But

the canopy over the earth is so high that a wall cannot be built high

enough, and the only thing one can do is to live in the midst of

all inharmonious influences, to strengthen his will power

and to bear all things, yet keeping the fineness of

character and a nobleness of manner together

with an ever-living heart.

 

To become cold

with the coldness of the world

is weakness, and to become broken

by the hardness of the world is feebleness,

but to live in the world and yet to keep above the world

is like walking on the water. There are two essential duties

for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love

in our nature ever increasing and expanding and to

strengthen the will so that the heart may not be

easily broken. Balance is ideal in life;

man must be fine and yet strong,

man must be loving and

yet powerful.
 

Hazrat Inayat Khan

the training of the ego

 

why prophets were given hardship

this whole universe is the Beloved

 

Soul guides and prophets

have an innate innocence, but they are

subject to the same consequences as everyone.

If a donkey veers off-course, he will be hit with a stick.

If you do wrong, you will be punished. Abu Bakr said

that steadiness is the central virtue. From the

mind’s stability comes right action

which in turn balances the

intelligence.

 

They asked me why

prophets were given hardship.

I said it helps to have clear indications.

And I added silently to myself, Be more

humble like someone help captive.

Bow to the one who

can free you.

 

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

the drowned book