“God in Your Work”
“‘One of you is a painter. Maybe she will paint paradise and find herself moving into the painting, heart and soul. One of you is a poet. Maybe she will write such delicious verses that God will shine his face up from the parchment to greet her. One of you is a scientist. It is […]
Continue reading“God is Within”
“‘Scientists may hold up the material world as the be-all and end-all, but they are mistaken. Artists may claim that beauty alone is divine. Lovers know that their beloved is the all-supreme goddess. But all of them are wrong. What they are worshipping is actually the Reality shining through the material world, the ceramic wall, […]
Continue reading“Angels”
“Soon their inner vision was filled with the presence of angels. The celestial beings were conglomerations of soft, white particles of light. They not only glowed but pulsated. Only vaguely humanoid in appearance, the angels emanated a feeling of perfect peace and deep joy. Gradually, the angels’ light ceased to be individualized; rather, it merged […]
Continue reading“Truth is Truth”
“‘Divinity transcends religious divisions. I myself have learned a great deal from the Zoroastrians and the Buddhists. You will find God-Realized souls in every tradition, and even ones who are not part of a tradition. Remember what I said earlier about words and labels. They do not create the experience of unity with God. Generally, […]
Continue reading“Cherry Blossom Heaven”
“Rumi led them down a narrow pathway that looked to be the sunlit entrance to heaven. The ground was completely covered by brilliant white snowdrops. Interspersed with their white blooms were delicately green stems. The sunlight streaming down on this natural carpet of flowers caused it to gently undulate, to ever-so-slightly pulse, and to quiver […]
Continue reading“The Turkish Market”
“They walked down a narrow market alley with high, vaulted, stone ceilings. Cooing doves serenaded them as they passed stalls piled high with figs, oranges, dates, and raisins; with elaborately decorated shoes and simple slippers; with heaped spice mounds of red and black pepper, thyme, mint, cumin, sumac, bay leaf, and cinnamon; with candies of […]
Continue reading“Sufi Wisdom”
“Rumi scanned the faces of all his guests. He smiled in an utterly childlike, innocent manner. “It is unimportant for us to put all these labels, these words, on things. The labels are, after all, the problem in the first place. We separate ourselves from God’s Being by constantly attaching words to what we ought […]
Continue reading“Meeting Rumi”
“Rumi, for it was indeed him, wore a simple brown woolen cloth robe, the ‘suf’ from which ‘Sufi’ is derived, and a white turban. But the man’s face was the pure distillation of love. His small mouth was as delicately sculpted as a masterpiece miniature; his nose, long and narrow. Rumi’s eyes, shaded by thick […]
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