Looking for your face

From the beginning of my life

 I have been looking for your face

 but today I've seen it.

Today, I've seen the charm

 the beauty

 and the unfathomable grace 

of the face that I was looking for.

Today, I've found you

 and those who laughed and scorned me yesterday

 are sorry they were not looking as I did.

I am bewildered by the magnificence of your beauty 

and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.

My heart has burned with passion and has searched forever

 for this wondrous beauty that I now behold. 

I am ashamed to call this love human

 and afraid of god to call it divine.

Your fragrant breath like the morning breeze 

has come to the stillness of the garden.

You have breathed new life into me. 

I have become your sunshine and also your shadow.

My soul is screaming ecstasy.

Every fiber of my being is in love with you.

Your effulgence has lit a fire in my heart and you have made radiant for me the earth and sky.

My arrow of love as arrived at the target 

 I am in the house of mercy

 and my heart is a place of prayer. 

Rumi

The Gate and Three Questions

Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates. 

At the first gate, ask yourself: Is it true?

At the second gate, ask yourself: Is it necessary?

At the third gate, ask yourself: Is it kind?

 Quote by Rumi

Authentically You!

We are surrounded by people, six billion to be exact and counting. And with those people come challenges.  Each one thinks that his way is right and most everyone else is wrong.  Which can lead to frustration. As humans we tend to lead lives that are copies.  Instead of trying to take our own path we seem to follow the same road as everyone else.  Religion is passed down from each generation without thought and to question, well, it is considered sacrilegious or worse. Whatever the next fashion fad is most want that new look.  And yet, we're afraid to wander from the path to individuality. What if a 54 year old woman wanted to wear flowers in her hair?  And I do. People would point at her and say that she is foolish. Or whatever it is that we want to do so that we can speak out our uniqueness to the world. We were not created on an assembly line. So, why then should we live like we were made in a factory? 

I recently came across a poem that Rumi wrote which touched my soul:  

For years, copying other people, I tried to know myself. 
From within, I couldn't decide what to do.
Unable to see, I heard my name being called.
Then I walked outside.


The Rumi Collection by Helminski

Love and Rumi

From Coleman Barks book: The Essential Rumi

When the Moon is Full

Sit with your friends; don't go back to sleep.

Don't sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea.

Surge like an ocean,

don't scatter yourself like a storm.

Life's waters flow from darkness.

Search the darkness, don't run from it.

Night travelers are full of light,

and you are too; don't leave this companionship.

The moon appears for night travelers,

be watchful when the moon is full.

~Rumi~

Let the Ocean Splash in my Chest

Like the Shepherd in the story of Moses and the Shepherd,
who wanted to pick the lice off God's robe, and stitch up God's shoes,
I want to be in such a passionate adoration
that my tent gets pitched against the sky!

Let the Beloved come and sit like a guard dog in front of the tent.
When the ocean surges, don't let me just hear it.
Let it splash in my chest.
~Rumi~