The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.---Tao

Verse 1

The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The name is the mother of the ten thousand things.

Send your desires away and you will see the mystery.
Be filled with desire and you will see only the manifestation.

As these two come forth they differ in name.
Yet at their source they are the same.
This source is called a mystery.


Verse 2

All under heaven see beauty as beauty only because they also see ugliness.
All announce that good is good only because they also denounce what is bad.
Therefore, something and nothing give birth to one another.

Difficult and easy complete one another.
Long and short fashion one another.
High and low arise from one another.
Notes and tones harmonise with one another.
Front and back follow one another.
Thus, the True Person acts without striving and teaches without words.

Deny nothing to the ten thousand things.
Nourish them without claiming authority,
Benefit them without demanding gratitude,
Do the work, then move on.
And, the fruits of your labour will last forever.


Verse 3

Not exalting the talented prevents rivalry.
Not valuing goods that are hard to obtain prevents stealing.
Not displaying desirable things prevents confusion of the heart.

Therefore, the True Person governs by emptying the heart of desire
and filling the belly with food, weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.

If the people are simple and free from desire, then the clever ones never dare to interfere.
Practise action without striving and all will be in order.    


Verse 4

The Tao is like an empty bowl,
yet it may be used without ever needing to be filled.
It is the deep and unfathomable source of the ten thousand things.

Blunt the sharpness.
Untie the knot.
Soften the glare.
Settle with the dust.

It is hidden deep yet ever present.
I do not know whose child it is.
It existed before the common ancestor.

Verse 5

Heaven and earth are not moved by offerings of straw-dogs.
The True Person is not moved by offerings of straw-dogs.

The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows.
It is empty and yet never exhausted.

The more it works the more comes out.
Many words lead to exhaustion.

Better to hold fast to your centre.


Verse 6

The valley spirit never dies.
It is the unknown first mother, whose gate is the root
from which grew heaven and earth.

It is dimly seen, yet always present.
Draw from it all you wish; it will never run dry.


Verse 7

Heaven and earth last forever.
The reason why heaven and earth last forever
is that they do not live for themselves.
Hence, they last forever.

Therefore, the True Person leaves self behind
and thus is found in front,
is not guarded and thus is preserved,
is self-free and thus is able to find fulfilment.


Verse 8

The highest good is like water.

For water benefits the ten thousand things without striving.
It settles in places that people avoid and so is like the Tao.

In choosing your home look to the land.
In preparing your heart go deep.

In associating with others value gentleness.
In speaking exhibit good faith.

In governing provide good order.
In the conduct of business be competent.

In action be timely.
Then there is no strife, nothing goes amiss.

Verse 9

Better to stop in time than to fill to the brim.
Hone a blade to the sharpest point, and it will soon be blunt.

Fill your house with gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Be prideful about wealth and position, and you bring disasters upon yourself.

Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.


Verse 10

While carrying your active life on your head
can you embrace the quiet spirit in your arms, and not let go?

While being fully focused on your vital breath
can you make it soft like that of a newborn babe?

While cleaning your inner mirror
can you leave it without blemish?

While loving the people and ruling the country
can you dispense with cleverness?

While opening and closing the gates of heaven
can you be like a mother bird?

While penetrating the four quarters with your insight
can you remain simple?

Help the people live!
Nourish the people!

Help them live yet lay no claim to them.
Benefit them yet seek no gratitude.

Guide them yet do not control them.
This is called the hidden Virtue. 

Neelanjan

Osho - We go on searching in the outside world to find some support for our ego

Source - Osho Book "A Sudden Clash of Thunder"

Osho - A foolish man comes to you and says you are very intelligent. And in fact, you can look intelligent only to a foolish man. If he is more intelligent than you, of course, you will not look intelligent to him. So a foolish man comes and certifies your intelligence, and you are very happy. You can look beautiful only to an ugly man. If he is more beautiful than you, you will look ugly -- because it is all relative. And you are certified by ugly people that you are beautiful, and you are tremendously happy.

What type of intelligence is this which has to be certified by foolish people? What type of beauty is this which has to be certified by ugly people? It is completely false. It is idiotic. But we go on searching. We go on searching in the outside world to find some support for our ego, somebody to give a little support, to become a prop. Otherwise there is always the danger that our ego will collapse. So we have to support it from this side and from that and continuous worry arises.

That's why you are more graceful when you are alone -- because you are not worried. Nobody is there to see you. You are more innocent when you are alone -- in your bathroom you are more innocent, you are more like a child. Again you stand before the mirror and make faces, and you enjoy it. But if you become aware that your small child is looking through the keyhole, immediately you are totally different. Now the ego is at stake. That's why people are so much afraid of others. Alone, there is no anxiety.
There is a famous Zen story: A Zen master was making a painting, and he had his chief disciple sit by his side to tell him when the painting was perfect. The disciple was worried and the master was also worried, because the disciple had never seen the master do anything imperfect. But that day things started going wrong. The master tried, and the more he tried, the more it was a mess.

In Japan or in China, the whole art of calligraphy is done on rice-paper, on a certain paper, a very sensitive paper, very fragile. If you hesitate a little, for centuries it can be known where the calligrapher hesitated -- because more ink spreads into the rice-paper and makes it a mess. It is very difficult to deceive on rice-paper. You have to go on flowing; you are not to hesitate. Even for a single moment. split moment, if you hesitate -- what to do? -- missed, already missed. And one who has a keen eye will immediately say, "It is not a Zen painting at all" -- because a Zen painting has to be a spontaneous painting, flowing.

The master tried and tried and the more he tried -- he started perspiring. And the disciple was sitting there and shaking his head again and again negatively: 'No, this is not perfect.' And more and more mistakes were being made by the master.

Then the ink was running out so the master said, "You go out and prepare more ink." While the disciple was outside preparing the ink, the master did his masterpiece. When he came in he said, "Master, but this is perfect! What happened?"

The master laughed; he said, "I became aware of one thing: your presence. The very idea that somebody is there to appreciate or to condemn, to say no or yes, disturbed my inner tranquility. Now I will never be disturbed. I have come to know that I was trying to make it perfect and that was the only reason for its not being perfect."

Try to make something perfect and it will remain imperfect. Do it naturally and it is always perfect. Nature is perfect; effort is imperfect. So whenever you are doing something too much, you are destroying.

That's why it happens: everybody talks so beautifully; everybody is a talker; people talk their whole life -- but just put them on a platform and tell them to talk to a crowd, and suddenly they become dumb; suddenly they forget everything, suddenly they cannot utter a single word. Or, even if they do utter, it is not graceful, it is not natural, it is not flowing. What has happened? And you have known this man talking so beautifully to his friends, to his wife, to his children. These are also people, the same people -- why are you afraid? You have become self-conscious. Now the ego is at stake: you are trying to perform something.

Listen carefully: whenever you try to perform something, you are searching food for the ego. Whenever you are natural and let things happen, they are perfect, and then there is no problem. When you are natural and let things happen, God is at the back with you. When you are afraid, trembling, trying to prove something, you have lost God. In your fear, you have forgotten Him. You are looking more at the people and you have forgotten your source.

Unless a man is creative, he cannot find much joy in life

Source - Osho Book "Beyond Enlightenment"--ನೀಲಾ೦ಜನ
Osho - Unless a man is creative, he cannot find much joy in life. So the first principle is: Be creative.
Don't bother whether you become a world-famous artist or not; that is not the significant thing. But create something -- a beautiful song, a little music, a dance, a painting, a garden. And when the roses blossom... you cannot say that life is a drag with so many roses blossoming. A beautiful painting... you cannot say life is a drag, because this painting has been created for the first time in the world and for the last time. Nobody has done it before, and nobody will do it again; only you were capable of doing it.

Express your uniqueness in whatsoever you do.
Express your individuality.
Let existence be proud of you.

Life will not be felt like a drag; it will become a fragrance. Not only will life be a joy and a dance -- for a creative person, for a meditative person, even death will be transformed.

I have always loved a story about Bokoju, a Zen master. He was ninety years old when he died. Three days before, he informed all his disciples: "If you want to come for the last goodbye, then come. In three days' time I am going to leave the world."

So thousands of his disciples came -- and he was one of the most unique masters Zen has produced. On the third day, in the morning there was a great gathering in his garden, and he was lying under his most beautiful tree.

He suddenly asked, "Just tell me one thing: In what way should I die? -- because I don't want to die like everybody else. Ninety-nine percent of people die in their beds." He said, "That is out of the question. Remove the bed from here!"

The bed is the most dangerous thing. Ninety-nine percent of people die there, and every night you go to bed without thinking of the danger. When the light is turned off, just put your mattress down on the floor. Then there is some chance of surviving -- death may try to search for you on the bed and may not be able to find you.

Bokoju said, "Take this bed away from here, and suggest something, something unique, worthy of Bokoju."
The disciples thought what to suggest? Somebody said that, "You can die sitting in a lotus posture. Many masters have died in the lotus posture."

But Bokoju said, "That is not very unique, because many people have died in that posture."
Somebody said, "You can die standing."
He said, "That seems to be appealing."
But one man objected; he said, "That's not right, because I know of a Zen master who died standing. It will not be unique."

Bokoju said, "It is very difficult. Find out quickly because my time is running out, and I cannot delay any more. So many idiots are here, and you cannot find just one unique way of dying for your beloved master?"
One man suggested, "Nobody has ever died standing on his head. You can do a headstand and die."
Bokoju said, "Perfectly right!"
He stood on his head and died.

Now the problem was... The disciples said, "What to do?" -- because they know what has to be done when a person dies in his bed. But what to do with this fellow who has died standing on his head?
Somebody said, "His elder sister, who is also a great master, lives just close by. It is better to call her and not to interfere, because this is a strange thing. We will be condemned later on if we don't do the right thing, so it is better to call somebody who can take responsibility."

The sister came and she said, "Bokoju! From your very childhood you have been mischievous -- and this is no time to be mischievous! Just lie down!"
And Bokoju laughed and said, "Okay sister -- because I cannot disobey you. I was almost dead. I was just waiting to see what these people would do trying to work out what to do with me after death. But these idiots have brought you here! And you always were a killjoy. You've destroyed the whole fun! Now I will die in the ordinary, orthodox way." And he died.
And his sister did not even look back, she just went away.
People said, "But he has died!"

She said, "It was time. He was delaying it. And it is not right to play jokes on existence. At least at the time of death one should be serious! Now he is dead, you do whatever you want to do. Even if he is not dead, finish him off -- his time is up!"

Make your life... Find out why you are feeling bored. Change. It is such a small life. Take risks, be a gambler -- what can you lose?

We come with empty hands, we go with empty hands. There is nothing to lose. Just a little time to be playful, to sing a beautiful song, and the time is gone. Each moment is so precious.

If you are silent, if you are creative, if you are loving, if you are sensitive to beauty, if you are grateful to this vast universe... There are millions of stars, which are dead -- and you are so small, yet you have the most precious thing in existence... life. And not only life, but the possibility of becoming a consciousness, of becoming enlightened, of coming to a space where death has never entered.

If Bokoju is not serious, the reason is because he knows there is no death, it is only changing houses, or changing clothes at the most. It is excitement -- even death is a great excitement and ecstasy. It is just your wrong approach.

Drop it, and don't drop it slowly slowly, piece by piece. Drop it totally, instantly. When you go out of this place, go dancing and singing. Let the whole world think you are insane, that is far better.

Stories I told to my daughter---Neelanjan

 A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912) received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in saved tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. 'It is overfull. No more will go in!'

‘Like this cup,' Nan-in said. ‘You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup? '
  

Encho was a famous storyteller. 

His tales of love stirred the hearts of his listeners. When he narrated a story of war, it was as if the listeners themselves were on the field of battle.

One day Encho met Yamaoka Tesshu, a layman who had almost embraced master hood in Zen. 'I understand,' said Yamaoka, 'you are the best storyteller in our land and that you make people cry or laugh at will. Tell me my favorite story of the Peach Boy. When I was a little tot I used to sleep beside my mother, and she often related this legend. In the
middle of the story I would fall asleep. Tell it to me just is my mother did.'

Encho dared not attempt to do this. He requested time to study. Several months later he went to Yamaoka and said, 'Please give me the opportunity to tell you the story. 'Some other day,' answered Yamaoka.

Encho was keenly disappointed. He studied further and tried again. Yamaoka rejected him many times. When Encho would start to talk Yamaoka would stop him, saying: 'You are not yet like my mother.'

It took Encho five years to be able to tell Yamaoka the legend as his mother had told it to him. In this way, Yamaoka imparted Zen to Encho. 

Stingy in Teaching

A young physician in Tokyo named Kusuda met a college friend who had been studying Zen. The young doctor asked him what Zen was.
'I cannot tell you what it is,' the friend replied, 'but one thing is certain. If you understand Zen, you will not be afraid to die.'

That's fine: said Kusuda. “I will try it. Where can I find a teacher?'
'Go to the master Nan-in,' the friend told him.

So Kusuda went to call on Nan-in. He carried a dagger nine and a half inches long to determine whether or not the teacher himself was afraid to die.When Nan-in saw Kusuda he exclaimed: 'Hello, friend. How are you? We haven't seen each other for a long time!'
This perplexed Kusuda, who replied: 'We have never met before.'

‘That’s right,' answered Nan-in. I mistook you for another physician who is receiving instruction here.'
With such a beginning, Kusuda lost his chance to test the master, so reluctantly be asked if he might receive Zen instruction.
Nan-in said: 'Zen is not a difficult task. If you are a physician, treat your patients with kindness. That is Zen.'

Kusuda visited Nan-in three times. Each time Nan-in told him the same thing.' A physician should not waste time around here. Go home and take care of your patients.'

It was not yet clear to Kusuda how such teaching could remove the fear of death. So on his fourth visit he complained: 'My friend told me when one learns Zen one loses his fear of death. Each time I come here all you tell me is to take care of my patients. I know that much. If that is your so-called Zen, I am not going to visit you any more.'
Nan-in smiled and patted the doctor. ‘I have been too strict with you. Let me give you a koan.' He presented Kusuda with Joshu’s Mu to work over, which is the first mind-enlightening problem in the book called The Gateless Gate.

Kusuda pondered this problem of Mu (No-thing) for two years. At length he thought he had reached certainty of mind.
But his teacher commented: "You are not in yet.'

Kusuda continued in concentration for another year and a half. His mind became placid. Problems dissolved. No-thing became the truth. He served his patients well and, without even knowing it, be was free from concern over life and death. Then when he visited Nan-in his old teacher just smiled.

Zen Quotes Zen Sayings

    * When you observe your delusions, you will know that they are baseless and not dependable. In this way you can cut confusion and doubt. This is what i call wisdom. - Bodhidharma
       
    * Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen;
      Talking or silent, moving unmoving,-
      The essence is at ease. - Yoka
       
    * When your consciousness becomes a still mirror, a still lake, a silent reservoir of energy, God is reflected in it. - Osho
       
    * You don't throw off your burdens even when you go to bed; you are busy with illusions. - Yakusan
       
    * Mind is like the wood or stone from which a person carves an image. If he carves a dragon or a tiger, and seeing it fears it, he is like a stupid person creating a picture of hell and then afraid to face it. If he does not fear it, then his unnecessary thoughts will vanish. Part of the mind produces sight, sound, taste, odor and sensibility, and from them raises greed, anger and ignorance with al] their accompanying likes and dislikes.
      -  Bodhidharma
       
    * Stop talking and thinking,
      And there is nothing
      You will not be able to know. - Sosan
       
    * since the journey of life
      is little but grief and pain,
      why should we be so reluctant
      to return to the sky of our native place? - Ikkyu
       
    * Confused by thoughts,
      we experience duality in life.
      Unencumbered by ideas,
      the enlightened see the one Reality. - Hui Nen

# This one life has no form and is empty by nature. If you become attached to any form, you should reject it. If you see an ego, a soul, a birth or a death, reject them all. - Bodhidharma
 
# When you are silent, it speaks;
When you speak, it is silent. - Yoka
 
# When no discriminating thoughts arise,
the old mind ceases to exist. - Sosan
 
# Among the greatest treasures
To be found on earth,
Being of nothingness
Is the greatest.
 
# A sagacious student does not depend on his teacher’s words, but uses his own experience to find the truth. A dull student depends on coming to a gradual understanding through his teacher’s word: a teacher has two
kinds of students; one hears the teacher’s words without clinging to the material nor to the immaterial, without attaching to form or to nonform, Without thinking of animate objects or of inanimate objects... This is the Sagacious student; the other, who is avid for understanding, accumulates meanings, and mixes good and bad, is the dull student. -  Bodhidharma
 
# When things are no longer important, only consciousness becomes important. When things are no longer significant, a new search, a new door opens. Then you are not rushing towards the without: you start slipping into the within. The kingdom of God is within. And once you drop identifying with things, suddenly you are no longer fighting -- there is no point. You start moving with the river of existence. Arrival at home is effortless. - Osho
 
# "It is present everywhere.
There is nothing it does not contain.
However only those who have previously
planted wisdom - seeds will be able
to continuously see it. - Dogen
 
# When practitioners of Zen fail to transcend
the world of their senses and thoughts,
all they do has no value. - Huang Po

# Do not search for the truth;
only cease to hold opinions. - Sosan
 
# Sitting silently, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself. - Basho
 
# If you don't find a teacher soon, you'll live this life in vain. it's true, you have the buddha-nature. but without the help of a teacher you'll never know it. only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help. - Bodhidharma
 
# To find a buddha, you have to see your nature. Whoever sees his nature is a buddha. If you don't see your nature, invoking buddhas, reciting sutras, making offerings and keeping precepts are all useless. -  Bodhidharma
 
# When you try to stop activity
To achieve passivity
Your very effort fills you with activity. - Sosan
 
# Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself. - Ryokan
 
# Meditation is looking into your emptiness, welcoming it, enjoying it, being one with it, with no desire to fill it -- there is no need, because it is already full. - Osho
 
# When your mind doesn't stir inside, the world doesn't arise outside. When the world and the mind are both transparent, this is true vision. And such understanding is true understanding. - Bodhidharma
 
# There is no God but godliness. It is a quality, a fragrance. You experience it, you don't see it. And when you experience it, it is not something out there as an object; it is something IN HERE, in the heart of your hearts. It is your subjectivity, it is your consciousness. - Osho

#

f you seek the buddha, you will be caught by the buddha demon; if you seek the patriarchs, you will be bound by the patriarch demon. Whatever you are seeking, all becomes suffering. It is better to have nothing further to seek. - Rinzai
 
#

The inner emptiness is the door to God. - Osho
 
#

Knowing one's mind, seeing into one's nature, is the way without mistakes. - Joshu
 
#

Discrimination with no-mind is right. Discrimination with mind is Wrong. When one transcends right and wrong, he is truly right. - Bodhidharma
 
#

The Great Way is not difficult
For those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
Everything becomes clear and undisguised. - Sosan
 
#

Go beyond language. Go Beyong Thought. - Bodhidharma.
 
#

Let me drop a word of advice for believers of my faith.
To enjoy life’s immensity, you do not need many things. - Ryokan
 
#

Mind is simply a combination of all the thoughts, of all the clouds. Mind has no independent nature of its own. When all the thoughts are gone and the sky is clean and clear, you will see that everything that you have paid so much attention to is nothing but emptiness. Your thoughts were all empty. They contained nothing, they were void. - Osho
 
#

To attain enlightenment you have to see your nature. unless you see your nature, all this talk about cause and effect is nonsense. buddhas don't practice nonsense. a buddha is free of karma, free of cause and effect. to say he attains anything at all is to slander a buddha. what could he possibly attain? Even focusing on a mind, a power, an understanding or a view is impossible for a buddha. a buddha isn't one-sided. the nature of his No-Mind is basically empty, neither pure nor impure. he's free of practice and realization. he's free of cause and effect. A buddha doesn't observe precepts. a buddha doesn't do good or evil. a buddha isn't energetic or lazy. a buddha is someone who does nothing, someone who can't even focus his mind on a buddha.  Bodhidharma

In His presence, silence is the gift of tongues. - Hakim Sanai #

      * Bring all of yourself to his door:

      bring only a part

      and you've brought nothing at all. - Hakim Sanai

     

    * I am a bird of the heavenly garden

      I belong not to the earthly sphere.

      They have made for two or three days

      A cage of my body. - Rumi

     

    * O Beloved, there is no room left in my heart

      For anything but You! - Hafiz

     

    * Sweep with your soul,

      before your beloved's door.

      Only then will you become her lover. - Baba Aziz

     

    * There are as many paths to God as there are souls on Earth. - Hadith

     

    * If I adore You out of fear of Hell, burn me in Hell!

      If I adore you out of desire for Paradise,

      Lock me out of Paradise.

      But if I adore you for Yourself alone,

      Do not deny to me Your eternal beauty.  - Rabia

     

    * Between me and You, there is only me.

      Take away the me, so only You remain. - Hallaj

     

    * Give me ecstasy, give me naked wonder, O my Creator!

      Give birth to the Beloved in me, and let this lover die.

      Let a thousand wrangling desires become one Love. - Rumi

     When the eye is pure

    it sees purity. - Hakim Sanai

Green wood can be bent. But once it becomes dry, it can only be straightened by fire. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond. - Rumi

#

I was starving until one night

My love tricked God Himself

To fall into my bowl. - Hafiz

#

I love God: I have no time left

In which to hate the devil. - Rabia

#

How will you ever know him,

as long as you are unable

to know yourself? - Hakim Sanai

#

From Him forgiveness comes so fast,

it reaches us before repentance

has even taken shape on our lips. - Hakim Sanai

#

One who has vanity and conceit in his head.

Imagine not that he will ever hear the truth - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Join me in the pure atmosphere of gratitude

For life. - Hafiz

#

Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure

Your Name on my tongue is the sweetest word. - Rabia

#

He is no tyrant:

for everything he takes,

he gives back seventy-fold;

and if he closes one door

he opens ten others for you. - Hakim Sanai

#

It is the rule with drunkards to fall upon each other,

to quarrel, become violent, and make a scene.

The lover is even worse than a drunkard.

I will tell you what love is: to enter a mine of gold.

And what is that gold?

The lover is a king above all kings,

unafraid of death, not at all interested in a golden crown. - Rumi

#

In His presence, silence is the gift of tongues. - Hakim Sanai

#

One who gives advice to heedlessness is himself in need of an advice. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Worship him as if you could see him with your physical eyes;

though you don't see him,

he sees you. - Hakim Sanai

#

Jealousy

And most all of your sufferings

Are from believing

You know better than God. - Hafiz

#

Happy are those who find fault with themselves instead of finding fault with others. - Muhammad (Essential Sufism)

#

Ten devishes can sleep beneath one blanket.

Two kings cannot rein in one kingdom - Saadi of Shiraz

#

He introduced himself to us

out of kindness: how else

could we have known him?

Reason took us as far as the door;

but it was his presence that let us in. - Hakim Sanai

#

When my Beloved appears,

With what eye do I see Him?

With His eye, not with mine,

For none sees Him except Himself. - Ibn Arabi

#

We tried reasoning

our way to Him:

it did not work;

but the moment we gave up,

no obstacle remained. - Hakim Sanai

#

If a gem falls into mud, it will still remain valuable.

And if the dust descends to heaven, it will still of no value. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Your task is not to seek for love,

but merely to seek and find

all the barriers within yourself

that you have built against it. - Rumi

#

No one can keep us from carrying God

Wherever we go. - Hafiz

#

Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves, and within it

is the Creator: Within this vessel are the seven oceans and the unnumbered stars.

The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;

And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth, and the spring wells

up. Kabîr says: "Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within." -  Kabir

#

 Bullah has fallen in love with the Lord.

He has given his life and body as earnest.

His Lord and Master is Shah Inayat

who has captivated his heart. - Bulle Shah

#

In this world you never stand by your own strength;

It is the Invisible that sustains you every moment. - Sa'adi

#

Deep in the sea there are riches beyond your imagination.

But if you seek safety, that is at the shore. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Where do you think you will Be

When God reveals Himself

Inside of you? - Hafiz

#

He treasures you more

than you do yourself.

Rise, have done with fairy tales;

leave your base passions,

and come to me. - Hakim Sanai

#

Melt yourself down in his search:

venture your life and your soul

in the path of sincerity;

strive to pass from nothingness to being,

and make yourself drunk with the wine of God. - Hakim Sanai

#

A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey. - Traditional (Essential Sufism)

#

No one throws stones at the barren tree. - Saadi of Shiraz

Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi Quotes

    * Open the love window.
      The moon won't use the door,
      only the window.
     
  A lifetime without 

  Love is of    no    account
  Love is the Water of Life
  Drink it down with heart and    
 * The sky was lit by the splendor of the moon
      So powerful I fell to the ground
      Your love has made me sure
      I am ready to forsake this worldly life
      and surrender to the magnificence of your Being
     
    * If I love myself
      I love you.
      If I love you
      I love myself.
     
    * I see so deeply within myself.
      Not needing my eyes, I can see everything clearly.
      Why would I want to bother my eyes again
      Now that I see the world through His eyes?
     
    * With passion pray.
      With passion work.
      With passion make love.
      With passion eat and drink and dance and play.
      Why look like a dead fish
      in this ocean of God?
     
    * Love is from the infinite, and will remain until eternity.
      The seeker of love escapes the chains of birth and death.
      Tomorrow, when resurrection comes,
      The heart that is not in love will fail the test.
     
    * This aloneness is worth more than a thousand lives.
      This freedom is worth more than all the lands on earth.
      To be one with the truth for just a moment,
      Is worth more than the world and life itself.
     
    * The intellectual is always showing off,
      the lover is always getting lost.
      The intellectual runs away.
      afraid of drowning;
      the whole business of love
      is to drown in the sea.

Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl.

If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see God in it. Those who are not in love with God will see only their own faces in it.

He is a letter to everyone. You open it. It says, 'Live!'

In truth everything and everyone
Is a shadow of the Beloved,
And our seeking is His seeking
And our words are His words...
We search for Him here and there,
while looking right at Him.
Sitting by His side, we ask:
'O Beloved, where is the Beloved?'

God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches you by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly - not one.

Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.
Gaining wisdom
Rumi quotes about spiritual growth and development

No mirror ever became iron again; No bread ever became wheat; No ripened grape ever became sour fruit. Mature yourself and be secure from a change for the worse. Become the light.

Only from the heart Can you touch the sky.

Patience is the key to joy.

People of the world don't look at themselves, and so they blame one another.

Since in order to speak, one must first listen, learn to speak by listening.

That which is false troubles the heart, but truth brings joyous tranquility.

The intelligent want self-control; children want candy.

The middle path is the way to wisdom.

The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.

Thirst drove me down to the water where I drank the moon's reflection.

To praise is to praise how one surrenders to the emptiness.

We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust.

We rarely hear the inward music, but we're all dancing to it nevertheless.

You think the shadow is the substance.
About LOVE
Rumi sayings and quotes

Where There is Great Love

Where There is Great Love Poster
Stephanie Marrott

Hangovers come with love, yet love's the cure for hangovers.

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

The way you make love
is the way God will be with you.


Close both eyes
to see with the other eye.


Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.


Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about things going badly.
Let the lover be.


The agony of lovers
burns with the fire of passion.
Lovers leave traces of where they've been.
The wailing of broken hearts
is the doorway to God.


Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.


Friends are enemies sometimes, and enemies friends.


I was a tiny bug. Now a mountain. I was left behind. Now honored at the head. You healed my wounded hunger and anger, and made me a poet who sings about joy.


If your guidance is your ego, don't rely on luck for help. you sleep during the day and the nights are short. By the time you wake up your life may be over.


Let the beauty we love be what we do.


Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.


Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.


Most people guard against going into the fire, and so end up in it.


My friend, the sufi is the friend of the present moment. To say tomorrow is not our way.


Nightingales are put in cages because their songs give pleasure. Whoever heard of keeping a crow?


No longer a stranger, you listen all day to these crazy love-words. Like a bee you fill hundreds of homes with honey, though yours is a long flight from here.
when I read  really stunned about his spiritual attainment...Neelanjan