Forgive

Seek forgiveness
the wise man said.
Forgive.
Forget.
Let go.

Seek forgiveness?
the young man asked.
No, said the sage.
Seek to forgive,
and then you will find the Forgiving.

We carry the heaviness
in the pit of our bellies.
An ulcer murmurs,
rumbles,
and then ruptures.
We carry this heaviness,
hoping to heave it at the source;
and then to seek forgiveness,
but all we need
is to seek to forgive.

We need not Forget.
We need to Forgive.
And then, to
Let it go.

Can you forgive? the wise man tested.
No. Perhaps. Not I? thought the lad.
Forgive? said the man.
Yes, said the lad,
Forgive them, forget them, let it go.
Good, said the saint.
Not good, said the lad,
There's one yet to forgive
for the furor of life,
and he's
the one
who looks back
in the mirror.

Charm

"Your charm lured me
to the edge of madness.
I lost my composure.
Humbled, I was sent away.
Then, You touched my heart,
transformed and shaped me
into any form You fancied."

RUMI

the lightness of being (apologies to kundera)

A year tends to bring numerous landmark events; personal ones, vocational ones, social, political, economic and faith-based ones. Some are steeped in elements of what is real and likely, while others are built on a foundation of fantasy, and collapse even before the hype and adrenalin has run it's course.

We live through the year over-dosing on temporary fixations, no doubt. The compulsive tendencies are fed to fullness on these tempting obsessions with the superficial, the random, and often the mundane. Twenty four hours can transform something that you cannot live without, into second rate trash.

I know these things about the infinite randomness of being, because admittedly, my life tends that way all too often. I hear the whirrrrr of the wheel as I run it like a good hamster. Whirr-whirrrr. I hear it.

And then that silver sliver of a new moon appears in the sky. Friendly faces peek out from behind the wood of trees made into solid doors. The gleam of delight is absurdly awesome; I am at once ensconced by it all, and lifted by the immense lightness of being a part of this communal life. Grace descends as silk. We are swathed in creamy layers of it, fragranced with a joy willed by the entry of this blessed month. It's the Holy month of Ramadaan. The almost Utopian goodness inherent in being human, reveals itself. Redundant excuses no longer make for a fitting diatribe. Devil may care only for a tether that renders evil useless somewhere on the ocean floor. Triumph is left to those who will embrace the rewards on offer; to those who will drink sweetness from ego's ultimate surrender.

There is, in surrender only one outcome: and that is the lightness of being.

Much love and blessings of an engaged surrender to one and all.
Ramadaan Kareem

i surrender

i love the feeling of emptiness..
of going beyond the hunger and fatigue and just being
its that point when the body stops struggling
stops its nagging
stops its tantrums
and knows
nothings going to come of making a noise

and so it embraces silence
it finds peace
in surrender
what will be will be

body, emptied, melts into spirit
and it remembers ancient secrets
and it just remembers

zhikr is fuel to the spirit
its wat it really means to kill base needs
or the beginnin of it rather

this is where it all begins
in empty silence
in surrender
in being

warning

ramadaan kareem

Its that time of year again. Pre-Ramadaan. Johannesburg is abuzz with activity, shoppers are filling up on sweets and savouries and the hype of all things spiritual. Relatives are holding dinners and lunches and teenyboppers are making their way to the bowling alleys and movies for last minute stocking up on entertainment they might not get to partake in over the next month or so. I wont get into the discussion regards that whole abstenance thing. Theres lines in the sand in every game of make belief that life is made up of.. and we all draw them and even draw upon them when it best suites us. But, undoubtedly, theres an essence about the mental and menial preparation for this upcoming few weeks that I look forward to. Theres something to be said about the spirit of unity, the glint of a yearning for redemption perhaps, and the fortitude that awaits in a notion of having our demons chained someplace in the oceans darkest depths. Aah, the promise of free spiritedness. The promise of freedom to do and be soul content and fulfilled as such. The promise within the choice to abstain from the desires of ego. The licence to fly light. The reason we need to be seated with the joy of our souls. Maybe, just maybe.. Thats all it takes.

Heres wishing you and yours beauty in the search for spirit..

Ramadaan Kareem..

With love..