I want to honor those of you

... who did yesterday's exercise - and are still standing, and better still, smiling :-)...

To honor and celebrate you, I chose the following two poems from 'I Heard God Laughing' - a book of poems by Hafiz (a fourteenth century Sufi poet), translated so ably and so delightfully by Daniel Ladinsky - and introduced to me by one of my very dear friends, another companion 'on the path', Cezanna Christine Malter (www.joyousliving.com).

These two are from the section 'You are with the Friend now' ('Friend' is Hafiz' allusion to God). In the poems in this section, Hafiz describes some of the preparations required for the Inner Journey of Love. He urges us to let go of habitual negative attitudes and unnecessary attachments, which only weigh us down. To make this journey, we must be light, happy and free to go Dancing! - so writes Daniel Ladinsky ... and I find these words so perfect, to honor your soul, dear reader, exhorting you to leave behind labels and names, others called you by, which you took over as your own, until you stopped seeing even your own Light:

My brilliant Image

One day the sun admitted

I am just a shadow.
I wish I could show you,
The Infinite Incandescene

That has cast my brilliant image!

I wish I could show you
When you are lonely or in darkness,

The Astonishing Light

Of your own Being!'


**********

Manic Screaming

We should make all spiritual talk
Simple today.

God is trying to tell you something,
But you don't want to buy.

That is what your suffering is:

Your fantastic haggling,
Your manic screaming over the price!


**********

I hope you enjoyed these. And isn't it true that more often than not, in our lives, we get so snarled in the 'price' of things, that we completely lose touch with their 'value'.

This book is an inseperable part of me - and I just love to open it on a random page and enjoy the poem there! A great present to buy yourself, in this festive season :-) ...

Have a wonderful day,

Kiki ;-)