Tag: Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

Quote of the Day – May 5 2012

“If you know the value of every article of merchandise,
but you don’t know the value of your own soul,
it will all have been pointless.
You’ve come to know the fortunate and the inauspicious stars,
but you don’t know whether you yourself
are fortunate or unlucky.
This then is the essence of all sciences–
that you should know who you will be
when the Day of Reckoning arrives”
–Rumi

Take two on this one with some apology for cluttering email boxes. As I was saying last night when I was a young adult I studied all manner of things spiritual and philosophical. I had a guide through the thicket, a friend and brother who I loved and through lack of self-knowledge betrayed. Was it ignorance or innocence, not quite sure but in the years to come as I threw myself at life, scattered and tattered, exploring, explored, living, and perhaps learning. I played the instrument of life rather than listened to the music. I was the band, the singer and the song. If innocence was the price of knowledge I played gladly. No lesson was learned the easy way and eventually I was too full and too empty. I skim way too much in this brief description and will no doubt write more but my life experiences have given me context for the knowledge I’ve gained before and since. Perhaps it is the same for many of us.
Blessings, G

 

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Woman with Snake by G A Rosenberg

Crawling Mandala by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – April 24 2012

“Late, by myself, in the
boat of myself,
No light and no land
anywhere,
cloudcover thick.
I try to stay
just above the surface.

Yet I’m already under and living within
The Ocean”
–Rumi

Another night floating bobbing up and down along the consciousness stream, thinking of dogs to home and kids in need and of how great my meditation time was today. Time without thought, focusing on breath and sensation not thinking tho occasionally the thoughts come what system would work best for all? Why do we spend so much time pursuing happiness that we forget to enjoy the moment? floating breathing down deep and back up connecting to the mother below and the sky above and i am back to a conversation about art and blank pages and in breath, feel it expand and slowly out breath and once again the rhythm start, the calm returns and sun feels  nice on my eyelids and in breath and tuning into the feelings, a moment of sadness let myself feel it so it passes and out breath…You know how it goes.

 

By the way what do you think about the new theme for the blog?

Blessings, G.

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Knight’s Vigil in the Four Elements by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – April 11 2012

“O Maker of Mysteries
Who makes every stranger a friend,
Who has given the rose to the thorn
as a robe of honour,
shift our dust again!
Make our nothing something”
— Rumi

This prayer I feel well and perhaps often, perhaps tonight more often than most. Sometimes inspiration becomes quiet. I spread my net and sing to my muse only to hear nothing back but the faint echo of my song. A friend of mine used to tell me at those times that I had a holding pattern happening and that the plane would land when it was time but until then to enjoy the circling lights. Very well then tonight I will contemplate the thorn on the rose and the friendliness of strangers.
When I was a teenager I used to have a problem with the concept of giving roses (or any flower for that matter) as gifts. “Why would you give someone a present that would die in a few days?”, I use to say with the worldly (or so I thought) disdain of an adolescent. It took me years and the loss of a few amazing people to realize that there is admirable beauty in the transitory and some things are beautiful because they do not last.
Blessings, G

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Blue Reflections by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – April 4 2012

““This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor…Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
― Rumi

I know many people who say they refuse to entertain any negative thought. Somehow they manage to just not think them. I find that to be rather a neat trick and one I have not been able to master. Far too often when I refuse entrance to negativity, I find that I am actually refusing exit and pushing the negativity back inside where it came from, only this time deeper.

What happens then when we entertain any thought positive or negative. We hang out with it and look at it and give it our attention. We ask it where it came from and listen as it tells us of its journeys up through our psyche. Maybe then we can deal with its origin, usually pain which we had not been ready to deal with before. After we have hung out then I can explain to my guest that the hour grows late and I must rest. Usually then it takes the hint and leaves of its own accord.

Sometimes the negative, angry or painful thought returns for it still has stories and lessons to teach me but more often than not if I have been a good host and truly listened it has gone on its way forever.
Blessings, G

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Creating by G A Rosenberg

“And if every way is closed before you. The secret one will show a secret path no other eyes have seen”

–Rumi

In my darkest times when I did not know where to turn, someone has always shown up shining like a flame pointing to a new direction. Not all of these have been external people, sometimes they have been in my head and then sometimes it is just a voice or a moment of inspiration. These moments have inspired faith and have saved me from despair many times. Moments like these I consider both loans and gifts. Loans in that I feel the need to return it to any one in similar need and a gift in that I wish to share it.

Blessings, G

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Quote of the Day – February 11 2012

“every sensation
every image
everything we think is lifeless
talks to us silently
with our lips or tongue
relating to us our joys and sorrows
informing us
trying to awaken us”
–Rumi

If we but listen, the sounds in a single moment can bring enlightenment and the silence between the moments bring wisdom. I’ve long believed that if we understand someone’s myths and stories we have come a long way towards understanding that person. This past few years of awakening seem to be a lot about what stories do i choose and its not a much up for grabs as i thought. Almost all of my major stories I’ve talked about on the blog.
I) The five blind men and the elephant
II) Br’er Rabbit and the tar Baby
III) Illusions by Richard Bach
IV) The Life of Emperor Norton
V) The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

There are many others in there that I could add…that illustrate parts of my life, Casteneda, Kerourac, Paulo Coelho (I loved The Alchemist and it resonated for me), Corwin of Amber, Crowley, Blavatsky, so many others. Books and words, Words and Story, Story and Music and silence. For if I don’t take these moments of silence, then how can I continue to hear?
Namaste, G

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Field of Flowers by G A Rosenberg

Snowflake Mandala by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – January 13 2012

“Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn’t matter,
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times,
Come, come again, come.”
–Rumi

Ah this quote I may leave alone. Somethings get diminished by discussion or interpretation, Still I will say this, no matter how badly we may have messed up, still while we live, we continue on rather than give into despair. I feel a bit overwhelmed by grace and deeply thankful for my existence. Namaste, G

CONTEST

Today I put up the pictures from December 2011 into the 2011 Art-gallery/. Look through it and let me know in a comment which picture was your favourite from last month and you’ll be eligible to win a print of it. Saturday Jan 14 I will be picking the winner

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Fire Dancers in the Desert by G A Rosenberg

Azure Shadow by G A Rosenberg

 

Quote of the Day – December 15 2011

“The dust of many crumbled cities settles over us like a forgetful doze, but we are older than those cities. We began as a mineral. We emerged into plant life and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten our former states, except in early spring when we slightly recall being green again. That’s how a young person turns toward a teacher. That’s how a baby leans toward the breast, without knowing the secret of its desire, yet turning instinctively. Humankind is being led along an evolving course, through this migration of intelligences, and though we seem to be sleeping, there is an inner wakefulness that directs the dream, and that will eventually startle us back to the truth of who we are.”
–Rumi

Good night to think about dreams.. In my mind, so connected to visions and desires. Can I dream without wanting? I differ from myself of a year or so ago in that I now believe the answer to be more likely yes..I dream the future, I dream things looking different than I see them look. Do I dream art into being? How about myself? How about all that I see with me? Doesn’t it all begin with a dream and then shaped by further dreams..I’ve heard people who believe reality to be what they dream described as fanciful. To me, they tend to be more honest, we all colour the world with our perceptions. Our perceptions determine our speech and actions which influences how others react, a chain of dominos knocked over by a perception, a whim or perhaps a dream.
Namaste, G

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My Dreams Have Colour and Texture by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – November 4 2011

“be a falcon in your rapture
be a lion in your majesty
find the treasure of the contented soul
walk fast
get to the place where neither fast nor slow exist
ascend to the height where there is no high or low”
-Rumi

Another day with so much to contemplate tho have found that meditating with a group can be a powerful thing…meditating on love within a group even more so. =)
Can silence be the ultimate form of communication and that least misunderstood? I know that silence can be gleefully misinterpreted and often seems to be and yet…at least when I stay silent, I seldom feel as if I have said the wrong thing or said the right thing the wrong way. Namaste
–G A Rosenberg

 

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Early Atlantean Design by G A Rosenberg

Introspection by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – October 21 2011

“And if every way is closed before you. The secret one will show a path no other eyes have seen”
–Rumi

Mind is flying
performing tricks
leaping from subject to subject
without a net
beneath the witness
water flowing, observing, knowing
observing the wildness above
after all beyond time, beyond space
every game has run its course
and all happens happening happened
That cosmic perfect gem
only contained within space / time prison
does one find any urgency
— G A Rosenberg

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Wheel by G A Rosenberg

Nile Illusions by G A Rosenberg