Love

"Advice is not for lovers;
This is not the kind of mountain stream
you can build a damn across."

~ Rumi

[7luminaries]

Rumi...good times.

here are a few of my other favourites...Neruda and Hafiz.
these 2 poems are very close to my heart...

posting here for the general public's enjoyment...


Neruda sonnet 17

No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio
o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego:
te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras,
secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.
Te amo como la planta que no florece y lleva
dentro de sí, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores,
y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo
el apretado aroma que ascendió de la tierra.
Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde,
te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo:
así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera,
sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres,
tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía,
tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño.

I do not love you as if you were a rose made of salt or topaz
or an arrow of carnations spreading fire:
I love you the way certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you like the plant that never blooms,
but conceals within itself the light of those flowers;
and, thanks to your love, the darkness of my body
houses the suffocating aroma that arose from the earth.
I love you without knowing how, when, or where from;
I love you straightforwardly, with neither problems nor pride:
I love you thus, not knowing how to love you otherwise
than this way where neither ‘you’ nor ‘I’ exist…
so close that your hand on my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close when I rest.


Hafiz - Faithful Lover

The moon came to me last night
With a sweet question.

She said,

"The sun has been my faithful lover
For millions of years.

Whenever I offer my body to him
Brilliant light pours from his heart.

Thousands then notice my happiness
And delight in pointing
Toward my beauty.

Hafiz,
Is it true that our destiny
Is to turn into Light
Itself?"

And I replied,

Dear moon,
Now that your love is maturing,
We need to sit together
Close like this more often

So I might instruct you
How to become
Who you
Are!

[Miss Hepburn]

Don't get me started on Hafiz!!

"My inside, listen to me,

the greatest Spirit, the Teacher, is near.

Wake up, wake up!"

~ Kabir


I really like that one from Hafiz.
I've got a book of Persian poets.
My favorites are Rumi, Omar, and Sanai.

"..and creatures comelier than angels even
seem in a dagger to have devil's faces.
Your dagger will never tell you true from false:
it will never serve you as a mirror.
..until you throw your sword away,
you'll not become a shield;
until you lay your crown aside,
you'll not be fit to lead."

~ Sanai (from: The Walled Garden Of Truth)

[Miss Hepburn]

Hi Valus,
I believe you will enjoy this very much - Sacred Poetry from
around the world.

http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com:80/index.html

Miss Hepburn

Thanks, Hep.

Here's an old favorite of mine:

THE RIVER-MERCHANT'S WIFE: A LETTER

by Li Po (Translated by Ezra Pound)


While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums
And we went on living in the village of Chokan:
Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.

At fourteen I married My Lord you.
I never laughed, being bashful.
Lowering my head, I looked at the wall.
Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.

At fifteen I stopped scowling,
I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever, and forever.
Why should I climb the look out?

At sixteen you departed,
You went into far Ku-to-Yen, by the river of swirling eddies,
And you have been gone five months.
The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.

You dragged your feet when you went out.
By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,
Too deep to clear them away!
The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.
The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the West garden,
They hurt me.
I grow older,
If you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang,
Please let me know beforehand,
And I will come out to meet you,
As far as Cho-fu-Sa.

[Miss Hepburn]

Very nice - and here is another I found, I hope you like.

Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.</SPAN>

Originally Posted by Valus

All the mysteries are opened to the open heart. The plant spirits, the birds, mountains and rivers, all give themselves and secrets willingly to the one who loves them. Seek love, and all these things shall be revealed. Seek love, and even the gods will seek your friendship.

Who does not love the sun cannot see the sun, nor feel true warmth upon her skin. Without love for the stones, they are speechless. With no affection for the lakes, the trees, and winding paths, one cannot enter out of doors. The blue sky is gray, and the grass is a sorry shade of green. Soil is dirt, and ash is dust. Whole canyons are the size of cups. Nothing moves or breathes, and the simmering wind is forgotten and lost - without love.

Where there is no joy in meeting, a friend is only a stranger, and a stranger is a shadow on the wall. When no thrill discovers you sitting in the sunlight, there is no springtime. Flowers go through the motions of blooming, half-sleeping. Stars blink unimpressively. Insects, minding their business, are pests. The past is like a chain around your neck, and the future is a pit you fall into. Ancestors are ghosts, descendants are dependents, animals are meat, and angels elude imagination - without love.

Yet, how the world unmasks itself, chortles through the leaves that make a forest, and comes smiling to greet you through every space or object; when love unlocks your heart. How the wind plays with your limbs, and carries your shirtsleeves into the dance. How green is the green, how perfect is the water at your ankles. Every miracle is manifest. Every child is a cherub. In the bustle of a city street, a symphony composed by chaos. The subway spotless. Yourself wordless, overcome with listening, or gushing like the poet Ganges, cacophony of subtleties, carried up into the crashing waves.

Love makes endless. Makes novelties of ancient clay. Every decomposing thing has more to say. Every skull and jawbone set askance, says, "More!", and grins just like the dawning day. Every grub pokes through the soil to the world's dismay. And the clouds are brighter than the purest ray of sun; when the word of "Love" is said... and done.


(Copyright VALUS 2010)

When someone writes something like this, it inspires me. It makes me want to respond with something equally as beautiful. I wish I had something... but as of this moment, I have nothing. Nothing but love. I love this, because it's so true.

Love is...

A feeling of joy without restraint....
A natural state as witnessed when we watch the birds.....
Love is an actionless action....

When all which obstructs our True nature is dissolved....
Love is resolved!

Love is your natural state.
Love is what made you and what did it make you out of?
ITSELF!

Love is certainly a mystery.

"Love is an actionless action...." I like that.

You make love sound like it comes so easily. Why is it that we have such difficulty with it?