Tag Archives: Kabir Helminski
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12 Essential Practices of Mevlevi Spirituality

January: Express faith and devotion in practical details & acts of service

February: Remember & resonate with the Highest Truth

March: Be a lover of Unity, abandon separation

April: Trust in Divine generosity

May: Be an objective witness: see Hu everywhere

June: Respect the Word, internally and externally

July: Reflect Beauty in the mirror of Action

August: Claim Nothing; Let the Divine Do

September: Embody Patience

October: Purify the breath with awareness

November: Heal with Presence

December: Be in love

The Threshold Society, rooted within the traditions of Sufism and inspired by the life and work of Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi, is a non-profit educational foundation with the purpose of facilitating the experience of Divine Unity, Love, and Truth in the world.

By Ali Divandari

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April 5, 2011 0 Comments Short URL , , , , , , , Sufism

Love says, “Be silent. I will beguile him with the soul.”

By Jalaluddin Rumi Reason says, “I will beguile him with the tongue;” Love says, “Be silent. I will beguile him with the soul.” The soul says to the heart, “Go, do not laugh at me and yourself. What is there that is not his, that I may beguile him thereby?” He is not sorrowful and […]

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April 4, 2011 0 Comments Short URL , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Sufism

Rumi Poem: A Thief In The Night

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT Suddenly (yet somehow unexpected) he arrived the guest… the heart trembling “Who’s there?” and soul responding “The Moon…” came into the house and we lunatics ran into the street stared up looking for the moon. Then-inside the house- he cried out “Here I am!” and we beyond earshot running around […]

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April 4, 2011 0 Comments Short URL , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Sufism

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Rumi:There is neither Islam nor Disbelief in this place

O Friend! we are near you in friendship,
Wherever you set foot, we prostrate ourselves like earth.
How is it permissible, in the religion of love,
That we should see your Creation and neglect to see You?

EBRU: The art of marbling paper

That Friend brought me up with great care and attention;
He sewed me a garment from skin and veins.
The body is like a cloak and my heart in it like a mystic,
The world is like a monastery and He is my Guide.

Seek knowledge which unravels mysteries
Before your life comes to close
Give up that non-existence which looks like existence,
Seek that Existence which looks like non-existence!

There is a world outside Islam and Disbelief,
We are enamoured of the atmosphere therein.
The mystic lays down his head when he reaches there.
There is neither Islam nor Disbelief in this place.

Whenever I prostrate my head He is the one to whom I bow;
In six directions or outside the six, he is the one I worship.
The garden, the rose, the nightingale, music and the beauteous maiden
Are a mere excuse and He alone is the real object.

From Divani Shams, Translation by Afzal Iqbal

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April 4, 2011 0 Comments Short URL , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Deserts and Mountains, Sufism, Thoughts/Ideas

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The Word: Wheat by Rumi; The Sound: One Truth by Omer Faruk Tekbilek

Omar Faruk Tekbilek had been studying Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, with the thought of becoming a Sufi cleric. At 15, he quit school to become a professional musician. “But I never quit studying, though,” he maintains. “In fact, I am still studying; it’s endless. Music for me is not something to show off. It’s my life. It’s the shortest path to God. Playing is prayer for me.”

Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi Poem:

Wheat
If wheat sprouts out of my grave,
the bread you make of it will get you drunk.
The baker and the dough will go insane,
and the oven will recite intoxicating verses.
If you come to visit my grave,
My tomb will appear to dance.
Brother! Don’t come without a tambourine,
for the sad can’t join in God’s celebration.
Though deep in the grave, the chin closed tight,
this mouth still chews the beloved’s opium and sugarplum.
If you tear a piece off that shroud and fasten it round your chest,
a tavern will open up from your soul.
From every direction comes the sound of the harp,
and hue and cry from the drunk.
Every action will perforce give rise to another one.
God has created me from love’s wine;
even if death takes me, I am the same love.
I am intoxication; my origin is the wine of love.
Tell me: what comes from wine except intoxication?
Toward the lofty soul of Shams of Tabriz
my soul is flying, lingering not even a single moment.

Rumi translations courtesy of Reynold A. Nicholson.

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March 28, 2011 1 Comment Short URL , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Music & Arts, Sufism, Thoughts/Ideas

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Poem by Rumi and Music by Omer Faruk Tekbilek

Omar Faruk Tekbilek, born in Turkey, has lived and worked in the New York area since 1976. He is a virtuoso on several Middle Eastern instruments and is a capable performer on dozens more. Tekbilek became familiar to many listeners through his work on Brian Keane’s soundtrack to Suleyman the Magnificent and subsequently through two additional collaborations, Fire Dance and Beyond the Sky, that combined the sounds of the Middle East with Western synthesizers and guitar. He has appeared at the Kool Jazz Festival and the New Sounds Live Concert Series, and has performed with Don Cherry, Ginger Baker, and many others.

O Drop
Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean.
Listen, O drop, bestow upon yourself this honor,
and in the arms of the Sea be secure.
Who indeed should be so fortunate?
An Ocean wooing a drop!
In God’s name, in God’s name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of pearls.
[Mathnawi IV, 2619-2622]

Rumi translations courtesy of Kabir Helminski.

March 28, 2011 0 Comments Short URL , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Music & Arts, Sufism, Thoughts/Ideas

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Rumi: The Root of the Root of Your Self

Don’t go away, come near.
Don’t be faithless, be faithful.
Find the antidote in the venom.

Come to the root of the root of yourself.
Molded of clay, yet kneaded
from the substance of certainty,
a guard at the Treasury of Holy Light—
come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

Once you get hold of selflessness,
you’ll be dragged from your ego
and freed from many traps.
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

You are born from the children of God’s creation,
but you have fixed your sight too low.
How can you be happy?
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

Although you are a talisman protecting a treasure,
you are also the mine.
Open your hidden eyes
and come to the root of the root of your Self.

 

You were born from a ray of God’s majesty
and have the blessings of a good star.
Why suffer at the hands of things that don’t exist?
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

You are a ruby embedded in granite.
How long will you pretend it isn’t true?
We can see it in your eyes.
Come to the root of the root of your Self.

You came here from the presence of that fine Friend,
a little drunk, but gentle, stealing our hearts
with that look so full of fire; so,
come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

Our master and host, Shamsi Tabrizi,
has put the eternal cup before you.
Glory be to God, what a rare wine!
So come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

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March 28, 2011 4 Comments Short URL , , , , , , , , , , , , Music & Arts, Sufism, Thoughts/Ideas

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