Welcome to Spiritual Insights, a website containing insights on spirituality and inspiration from various sources.
Be contented with what you possess in life; be thankful for what does not belong to you, for it is so much care the less; but try to obtain what you need in life, and make the best of every moment of your life.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Gayan
Word for the day from http://www.gratefulness.org
If you like to help, here are few respected international organizations that are active in the area:
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
P.O. Box 372CH-1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
41-22-730-4222
http://www.ifrc.org/
US Fund for UNICEF
333 East 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
800-FOR-KIDS
http://www.unicefusa.org
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
P.O. Box 2247
New York, NY 10116-2247
888-392-0392
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Moses heard a shepherd on the road praying,
"God, Where are you?
I want to help you, to fix your shoes and comb your hair.
I want to wash your clothes and pick the lice off.
I want to bring you milk to kiss your little hands and feet when it's time for you to go to bed.
I want to sweep your room and keep it neat.
God, my sheep and goats are yours.
All I can say, remembering you, is ayyyy and ahhhhhhhh."
Moses could stand it no longer.
"Who are you talking to?"
"The one who made us, and made the earth and the sky."
"Don't talk about shoes and socks with God!
And what's this with your little hands and feet?
Such blasphemous familiarity sounds like you're chatting with your uncles.
Only something that grows needs milk.
Only someone with feet needs shoes.
NotGod! Even if you meant God's human representatives, as when God said,
'I was sick and you did not visit me,'even then this tone would be foolish and irreverent.
Use appropriate terms.
Fatima is a fine name for a woman, but if you call a man Fatima, it's an insult.
Body-and-birth language are right for us on this side of the river, but not for addressing the origin, not for Allah.
"The shepherd repented and tore his clothes and sighed and wandered into the desert.
A sudden revelation came then to Moses.
God's voice: You have separated me from one of my own.
Did you come as a Prophet to unite, or to sever?
I have given each being a separate and unique way of seeing and knowing and saying that knowledge.
What seems wrong for you is right for him.
What is poisonous to one is honey to someone else.
Purity and impurity, sloth and diligence in worship, these mean nothing to me.
I am apart from all that.
Ways of worshipping are not to be ranked as better or worse than one another.
Hindus do Hindu things. the Dravidian Muslims in India do what they do.
It's all praise, and it's all right.
It's not me that's glorified in acts of worship.
It's the worshipers! I don't hear the words they say.
I look inside at the humility.
That broken-open lowliness is the reality, not the language!
Forget phraseology.
I want burning, burning.
Be friends with your burning.
Burn up your thinking and your forms of expression!
Moses, those who pay attention to ways of behaving and speaking are one sort.
Lovers who burn are another.
Don't impose a property tax on a burned-out village.
Don't scold the Lover.
The "wrong" way his talks is better than a hundred"right" ways of others.
Inside the Kaaba it doesn't matter which direction you point your prayer rug!
The ocean diver doesn't need snowshoes!
The love-religion has not code or doctrine.
Only God.
So the ruby has nothing engraved on it! It doesn't need markings.
"God began speaking deeper mysteries to Moses.
Vision and words, which cannot be recorded here, poured into and through him.
He left himself and came back.
He went to eternity and came back here.
Many times this happened.
It's foolish of meto try and say this.
If I did say it, it would uproot human intelligences.
It would shatter all writing pens.
Moses ran after the shepherd.
He followed the bewildered footprints, in one place moving straight like a castle across a chessboard.
In another, sideways, like a bishop.
Now surging like a wave cresting, now sliding down like a fish,with always his feet making geomancy symbols in the sand, recording his wandering state.
Moses finally caught upwith him."I was wrong.
God has revealed to me that there are no rules for worship.
Say whatever and however your loving tells you to.
Your sweet blasphemyis the truest devotion.
Through you a whole world is freed.
Loosen your tongue and don't worry what comes out,
It's all the light of the spirit."The shepherd replied,
"Moses, Moses, I've gone beyond even that.
You applied the whip and my horse shied and jumped on itself.
The divine nature of my human nature came together.
Bless your scolding hand and your arm.
I can't say what has happened.
What I'm saying now is not my real condition.
It can't be said."The shepherd grew quiet.
When you look in a mirror, you see yourself, not the state of the mirror.
The flute player puts breath into the flute, and who makes the music?
Not the flute,The flute player!
Whenever you speak praise or thanksgiving to God, it's always like this dear shepherd's simplicity.
When you eventually see through the veils to how things really are,
you will keep saying again and again,
"This is certainly not like we thought it was!"
This poem of Rumi is translated by Coleman Barks and read with beautiful music in the background on this CD.
Everything we ever had and will have is a gift from the Source. What can we offer to him then? Is there anything that we have created? Yes, our ego is the only thing in the world that is not created by him, we shall offer our ego to him!
Labels: ego
A story posted on http://www.KindnessInc.org
I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called "Smile." The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reaction. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say, hello anyway.....so, I thought, this would be a piece of cake literally.
Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonalds, one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special play time with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a suddeneveryone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.
I did not move an inch...an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell... and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was "smiling". His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue eyed gentle man was his salvation. I held my tears....as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all Miss" because that was all they could afford. To sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something...they just wanted to be warm.
Then I really felt it...the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me...judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you." I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said,"I did not do this for you...God is here working through me to give you hope." I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son.
When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, "That is why God gave you to me honey....to give me hope." We held hands for moment and at that time we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given that we were able to give. We are not church goers but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.
I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in "my project" and the instructor read it....then she looked up at me and said, "Can I share this?" I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we, as human beings and being part of God, share this need to heal people and be healed. In my own way I had touched the people at McDonalds, my husband,son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn....UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.
Much love and compassion is being sent to each and every person who may read this. Learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.
A man had an interview in a city where he had to travel by plane.
He arrived at the airport. Before departing, he visited the a small shop at the airport, he purchased couple of candies and a drink. To his surprise the total came out to be $20. He was determined to not pay that much for just couple of candies and a drink. He argued with the shopkeeper about it. Shopkeeper was kind enough to charge him $15 but that wasn't good enough for him. His argument started again. After a while, the shopkeeper agreed to charge him only $10 so he can get back to his business and serve other customers. The man proud of himself, happily walked towards his flight's gate. The flight had already gone.
....
Busy with activities of our life, happy with our successes in this world of forms and names, we will miss our flight, the flight of recognizing the purpose of this human life, the goal of becoming one with Almighty by surrendering our ego to him and living a life of love for all.
Paraphrased from one of Amma's discourses
- http://www.ammachi.org
Labels: ego