God Eavesdrops

What an opportunity two hearts have whenever they talk.

For when our words are loving, playful and encouraging,

God cannot help but eavesdrop even more than usual.

And then, of course, the odds increase on the divine being felt.

- Hafiz

A gem from Rumi...

quite literally :)
In this the month of sacrifice, of putting others above ourselves, in letting dharma win over pettiness, in elevating our spirits from its lower self to the higher, in suffering for good, in enduring for wisdom and understanding....this poem teaches a most beautiful lesson on what it means to be selfless and detached.
In light of tonight's Ruhi section on kindness, on achieveing unity, in understanding what it means to let one's heart burn with loving-kindness for everyone that might pass one's way, I share this Ruby with you, so you may drink in its beauty as I do and savor the full potence of its meaning as it sinks in word by word....

--

The Ruby

At breakfast tea a beloved asked her lover,

"Who do you love more, yourself or me?"

"From my head to my foot I have become you.

Nothing remains of me but my name.

You have your wish. Only you exist.

I've disappeared like a drop of vinegar in the ocean of honey."

A stone has become a ruby,

is filled with the qualities of the sun.

No stoniness remains in it.

If it loves itself, it is loving the sun.

And if it loves the sun, it loves itself.

There is no difference between these two loves.

Before the stone becomes the ruby it is its own enemy.

Not one but two exist.

The stone is dark and blind to daylight.

If it loves itself, it is unfaithful: it intensely resists the sun.

If it says "I," it is all darkness.

A pharaoh claims divinity and is brought down.

Hallaj says the same and is saved.

One I is cursed, another I is blessed.

One I is a stone, another a crystal.

One an enemy of the light, the other a reflector of it.

In its inmost consciousness, not through a doctrine,

it is one with the light.

Work on your stony qualities

and become resplendent like the ruby.

Practice self-denial and accept difficulty.

Always see infinite life in letting the self die.

Your stoniness will decrease; your ruby nature will grow.

The signs of self-existence will leave your body,

and ecstasy will take you over.

Become all hearing like an ear and gain a ruby earring.

Dig a well in the earth of this body,

or even before the well is dug,

let God draw the water up.

Be always at work scraping the dirt from the well.

To everyone who suffers,

perseverance brings good fortune.

The Prophet has said that each prostration of prayer

is a knock on heaven's door.

When anyone continues to knock,

felicity shows its smiling face.

The light which shines in the eye

is really the light of the heart.

The light which fills the heart

is the light of God, which is pure

and separate from the light of intellect and sense.

- Rumi

(translated by Kabir Helminski)

--

12 Vows to cultivate a spirit of Avalokita Buddhishava

After nearly a year, I visited the Kim Son Monastery again today with some dear friends. And I wanted to share with you, dear reader, these beautiful vows we were introduced to, to cultivate a harmonious existence from within and without and to live in mindfulness. The monastery is a Vietnamese Sangha in the Buddhist tradition. (Avalokita Buddhishava or Avolikiteshvara Bodhisattva)

1. I vow to cultivate loving kindness and compassion, and to protect lives, happiness for all living beings.

2. I vow to understand all living beings and their sufferings, in order to offer joy and bring happiness to everyone.

3. I vow to let go of all angers, worries, anxieties, and complaints, so I can live freely and happily with everyone.

4. I vow to live in harmony, peacefully with friends, families, and all beings.

5. I vow to listen with all my attention and open heartedness in order to understand what the other person is saying. I shall listen without any prejudice. I shall sit and listen without judging or reacting. And I shall not say things which are unwholesome and hurtful.

6. I vow to practice mindful breathing to transform my deep habit energy of forgetfulness, I shall learn to breath mindfully every time I hear the sound of the bell, or other wonderful sounds around me. If I practice listen deeply, I will see that all sound carries a message of love and wisdom.

7. May the sick people be healed, the old be well taken care of, and those who has passed away will all be reborn in the Pure Land.

8. May the poor be fed, all wrong doings be repented, all in captivity be free, all disable be healed, all drug addict be awaken from their illusion, and all murderers be free of arms.

9. May all the beings cultivate boundless love. Let no one do harm to anyone. Let no one put the life of anyone in danger, and let no one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone harm.

10. I vow to protect this planet and keep it beautiful. I vow to do work of transforming garbage into flowers and fruits, protecting life and the environment, and building a Pure Land on earth.

11. May all beings end all afflictions so that wisdom can arise, and the fruit of awakening be fully realized for everyone.

12. May I and all living beings act with the wonderful power of thousand arms and eyes of compassion, to come and go freely in the three worlds. We aspire to practice with a boddhisatva’s vow to be an instrument of the Buddha to help alleviate pain and sufferings in the Ten Directions of the Cosmos.