"My
heart, sit only with those
who
know and understand you.
Sit
only under a tree
that
is full of blossoms.
In
the bazaar of herbs and potions
don't
wander aimlessly,
find
the shop with a potion that is sweet.
If
you don't have a measure
people
will rob you in no time.
You
will take counterfeit coins
thinking
they are real.
Don't
fill your bowl with food from
every
boiling pot you see.
Not
every joke is humorous, so don't search
for
meaning where there isn't one.
Not
every eye can see,
not
every sea is full of pearls.
My
heart, sing the song of longing
like
nightingale.
The
sound of your voice casts a spell
on
every stone, on every thorn.
First,
lay down your head,
then
one by one
let
go of all distractions.
Embrace
the light and let it guide you
beyond
the winds of desire.
There
you will find a spring and
nourished
by its sweet waters
like
a tree you will bear fruit forever."
–Rumi
I was
lamenting to a friend recently about the dynamics of my family of origin and
how challenging it is to be around an angry alcoholic who hates the world and
acts with disgust toward everyone, making faces at both my mother and me... TMI? J
Maybe, but this is the reality of facing into life as it is… I sometimes want to recoil, and find my heart contracting in the face of such disdain - not wanting to be wounded again, vowing that *I* do *not* have to endure this behavior - clearly failing in the "unconditional love" department. :) And yet, I return and try to keep the Heart open once again... But I also made this comment to my friend: “I
need to be where Love is…” – as Rumi points to in his poem – to be in the
unprotected ease and openness of people who *know* LOVE. But do any of us really *know* Love - the pure Essence of Love… Sometimes our families of origin are not
where we find Love – the unconditional kind of Love that nurtures, and allows
us to flourish. I'm sure some of you have already experienced this… And so, where do I find this
Heart of Love, how do I come to know this Love more deeply myself, so that I
may be present in and to a family who doesn’t *know* real Love, but is caught
up in the matrix of their madness?
It is in
the deep Silence during meditative times that I experience this expansive Love
the most. We are immersed in this vast open *space* of Love that holds us and embraces us without
condition - from within... The Heart of Love is within.
“And so the journey continues… Your Heart takes you…..to an endless landscape of love that knows no boundaries. And the wind is real and the snow continues to fall and the love continues, and will always continue. So you can leave behind those old worn clothes that you called your existence, those ways you used to walk when you thought you were alive. Because here in this place that is like no other there is the freedom you always knew, a freedom that belongs to love.
Do not be
discouraged…..when the wheels of existence carry you always along roads you
would rather not travel. There is this
other land, this landscape that belongs to love. This is the place where the two seas meet [meaning
where human and Divine meet], where existence reveals its secrets, where time
uncovers what always was, even if you have never seen it before.
You *are*
the place where the two seas meet, where love is uncovered… There is always this place, the vastness [of
love] that calls to us. Remember, it is
always here. It cannot be anywhere
else."
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic
From: Fragments of a Love Story
You might also be interested in reading the post:
Prickly Personalities
about how I met this prickly situation two years ago...
Photo: My new Amaryllis in full bloom!
Evoking Love J
