March 16, 2008

"And what, monks, is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering? It is that craving which gives rise to rebirth, bound up with pleasure and lust, finding fresh delight now here, now there: that is to say sensual craving, craving for existence, and craving for non-existence. And where does this craving arise and establish itself? Wherever in the world there is anything agreeable and pleasurable, there this craving arises and establishes itself. And what is there in the world that is agreeable and pleasurable? The eye in the world is agreeable and pleasurable, the ear... the nose... the tongue... the body... the mind in the world is agreeable and pleasurable, and there this craving arises and establishes itself. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, mind-objects in the world are agreeable and pleasurable, and there this craving arises and establishes itself."

--Mahasatipatthana Sutta: The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness, in Thus Have I Heard: The Long Discourses of the Buddha, trans. by Maurice Walshe

This Place Where You Are Right Now
This place where you are right now
God circled on a map for you.
Wherever your eyes and arms and heart can move
Against the earth and sky,
The Beloved has bowed there -
Our Beloved has bowed there knowing You were coming.
I could tell you a priceless secret about
Your real worth, dear pilgrim,
But any unkindness to your self,
Any confusion about others,
Will keep one
From accepting the grace, the love,
The sublime freedom
Divine knowledge always offers to you.
Never mind, Hafiz, about
The great requirements this path demands
Of the wayfarers,
For your soul is too full of wine tonight
To withhold the wondrous Truth from this world.
But because I am so clever and generous,
I have already clearly woven a resplendent lock
Of His tresses
As a remarkable truth and gift
In this poem for you.

--Hafiz

There is an obscure poem recited in the movie, “Joe Versus the Volcano” I used to make fun of it because I did not understand it. Now, perhaps, I still don’t understand it, but I FEEL it and like Hafiz treasure it like a valuable gift:
“Long ago
The delicate tangles of his hair
Covered the emptiness
Of her hand.”

There is a [Hadith] which says: 'Mutu kubla anta mutu', which means, Die before death. A poet says, 'Only he attains to the peace of the Lord who loses himself.' God said to Moses, 'No man shall see me and live.' To see God we must be non-existent.
from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_26.htm
Mutu kubla anta mutu!

Yes! One must die before one can be born again...

Perhaps giving up one's fear of death by putting it into constant practice is one way of releasing the suffering that fear brings with it.
“…we don’t have to sit around and look sweet and sad an anemic in order to believe in God…I like sort of a lusty, husky faith in the Infinite.”
--Ernest Holmes
I absolutely LOVE the idea of a lusty faith...husky has social connotations that I'm re-thinking...for one, it connotes an open abundance and for another it has a raw and raspy flavor to it...like a well used voice or a body that has been happily worked to it's limit.

ALA!!!

Husky, Lusty Hakima