Saturday, March 1, 2008

Rumi....



I corrupted and converted a friend to the "other side" recently. The pleasures of living in the moment cannot be denied. The joys of abandoning all responsibility... to simply be...with you, with me.

Rumi speaks of complete abandon, to be drunk on the wine of the divine, to live for love, to be... to exist only for your beloved. In Rumi's case, the divine is the beloved. To lose oneself in any manifestation of love is to be with the divine. Love for the mother, child, brother, lover... all are manifestations of the divine love. Our gift from the supreme to us. The one emotion that is celestial in its purity and thus keeps us connected to our heavenly place from whence we fell..that once upon yonder time....

What is it then that keeps us from letting go? To abandon ourselves to the galloping, swarming, engulfing crescendo of that emotion? To forever keep another at arm's length, fearful of the intensity of the emotions they create in us?

Whenever one soars to the sky and beyond there shall always be a return to earth. One must after all alight from flight for a brief respite- one cannot after all soar forever high. Yet what of those who have slipped and like falling stars incinerated themselves in the very flames of passion that gave them wings. What is their fate to be? Shall they ever climb up the sheer cliff face to observe the breathtaking view and promise it holds? Shall they forever stay looking at the cliff... fearful to climb and yet wishing they could? Shall they gather enough courage to make the climb and then all they do is stand in awe of the beauty that they witness is theirs... just for the taking, yet never have the courage to reach out and take it. Can they...will they.... have the courage, to close their eyes and lean forward, to tip over and dive, plummet, fall headlong into love?

Can you... Will you...soar into oblivion with me? Can I... will I.... take the plunge with you?


(Alka Seltzer settings.... the past, the present, the truth and the future.... your understanding, your patience, your presence, and me...)


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

waow

Anonymous said...

Yes, when WE are ready, I will take the plunge with you. What keeps us from jumping headlong over the cliff now then?

The past.

The past is an uncertain predictor of the future that can be riddled with pain. But just like past performance of stocks is no guarantee of future results, pained or lost love is no predictor of future success in shared happiness with future lovers.

What is then? There is no one answer to this question that all souls want to know. But a geniune relationship that connects mind and body with two souls is likely the best predictor of long term happiness. For if this connection truly is geniune and selfless, then each will do whatever it takes to maintain the happiness for the collective good of both souls. Are we ready to give up selfish ways for collective happiness that is greater than the sum of its parts? It does make one vulnerable and exposed, but the risk/reward ratio is predicated on trust that each must build. When that built trust is high enough....jump!

Shahnaz said...

Well said...

A toast then,

To high trust, selfless love and being genuine....
Salut!

Anonymous said...

..can an anonymous identity be stolen?... I smart from the slight of a stolen (non)identity!

..any kind of leap, by its very nature, must be based on faith.. try and bolster it with any and all calculations, logic and feel-good philosophies, in the end it is that truest of innate convictions - that certainty that comes god knows whence... that mad, magic moment of genius that makes you throw yourself into that win-all lose-all leap...only then do you soar.

and the leap and what drives is anything but selfless...I believe that "a genuine,selfless person" is an oxymoron.


"to employ once more an old religious formula with a new and deeper meaning - it is some fundamental certainty which a noble soul has about itself, something which is not be sought, is not to be found, and perhaps, also is not to be lost"

Friedrich Nietzsche


"It is this highest level of man's emotions that has to be redeemed from the murk of mysticism and redirected at it's proper object: man."

Ayn Rand


…and the other mystic side (its all the same in the end)....some favourite Rumi quotes:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.”

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

“Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.”

No cure exists for this pain but to die,
So why should I say, "Cure this pain"?

Anonymous said...

Jeff Buckley said this to describe the effect of hearing Nusrat (Fateh Ali) for the first time: "I felt a rush of adrenaline in my chest, like I was on the edge of a cliff...wondering when I would jump and how well the ocean would catch me: two questions that would never be answered until I experienced the first leap. That is the sensation and the character of Qawwali music, the music of the Sufis, as best I can describe it."

Jeff Buckley does Nusrat - LIVE AT SIN-E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl76dCXatKk


The sufis, delight in looking for self in oblivion and in their love, their certainty, the trueness of their passion, they find the audacity to question God. (Would you really question someone you did not feel a sense of belonging with?)

mujhe ab talaash-e-haram nahin
----
ye mere junoon ka hai mojiza
jahan apne sar ko jhukaa diyaa
vaheen maine Kaaba bana diyaa


(what delightful humorous sparring with God!):

lehron say khelta hua
lehra ke pi gayaa
aay Rehmat-eTamam
Meri har khata muaaf (!)
Main intaha-e-shauq main
Ghabra ke pi gayaa

Shahnaz said...

@Anon-Sisa

Can you relate to this one...?


Tujhsey ishq kiya
Ye jurrat ki
Tujh ko patay hi
Apnay app ko kho diya
Jo paya phir khud ko mainay
To tujhe kho diya
Na hoti mai
To tu hota
Na hoti mai
To ishq hota
Gar ishq, ISHQ hota...
Na tu hota
Na mai hoti
Bas ISHQ hota...
Sirf ISHQ hota

Anonymous said...

...sure I can sista!(smiling!)...

(.. the raindrops post - it might as well be me writing...)


...its a different kettle of fish, writing in Urdu, Nahin? There is something about urdu/punjabi that cuts to the chase -that is "guts and bones" real!... screw eloquentia!

daboya mujh ko honay nay
na hota main to kiya hota

Our shaeri, our music, our pathos! the "west" lags far behind the innate wisdom of the "east"

mo said...

:)

Anonymous said...

@anon-sista,
“Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.”

Our shaeri, our music, our pathos! the "west" lags far behind the innate wisdom of the "east"

Well said .... SO TRUE!!!!!

Anonymous said...

@anon-sista Jee,
"“Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.”"

"Our shaeri, our music, our pathos! the "west" lags far behind the innate wisdom of the "east"

WELL SAID !!!!!!!!!