You have to break your heart

Spiritual quotes by - Jalal ud Din Mohammad Rumi 

You have to keep breaking your heart, until it opens.

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His epitaph -

When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth,

but find it in the hearts of men.

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I died as a mineral and became a plant,

I died as plant and rose to animal,

I died as animal and I was Man.

Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?

Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar with angels blessed. 

But even from angel-hood I must pass on.  All except God doth perish.

When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,  I shall become what no mind ever conceived.

Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence proclaims in organ tones,

To Him we shall return.

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Wandering for four years looking for his teacher and guide Shams e Tabrizi who simply disappeared Rumi one day said,

"Why should I seek? I am the same as He. 
His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for myself!"

- Jalal ud Din Mohammad Rumi 

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“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.”

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"Raise your words, not voice. 

It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder…"

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“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be 
polished?”

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“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

               - Rumi, Masnavi i Man'avi, the spiritual couplets of Maula

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“The minute I heard my first love story,

I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.

They're in each other all along.”

                       

                                     - Rumi, The Illuminated Rumi

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“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”

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“What you seek is seeking you.”

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“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

                                                               

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“Don’t grieve. 

Anything you lose comes round in another form.”

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“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”

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“My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.”

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“Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. 

Unfold your own myth.”

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“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.”

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“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

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“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 honourably. 
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.” 

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“People want you to be happy.

Don't keep serving them your pain!

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“And still, after all this time, the Sun has never said to the Earth, "You owe me."

Look what happens with love like that. It lights up the sky.”

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“Words are a pretext. 

It's the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”
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“Two there are who are never satisfied -

             - the lover of the world and the lover of knowledge.” 
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“I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons.

Knocking on a door, it opens.

I've been knocking from the inside.” 

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“Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.”

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“Who could be so lucky? 
Who comes to a lake for water and sees the reflection of moon.” 

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“I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.” 

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“And you? 

When will you begin that long journey into yourself?” 

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“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” 

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“They say there is a doorway from heart to heart, but what is 

the use of a door when there are no walls?” 

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“Not only the thirsty seek the water, 

               the water as well seeks the thirsty.” 

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“When someone beats a rug,

the blows are not against the rug,

but against the dust in it.” 

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“There are lovers content with longing.

I’m not one of them.” 

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“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.” 

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“Respond to every call that excites your spirit.”  ______________________________________

“You were born with potential.

You were born with goodness and trust. 

You were born with ideals and dreams. 

You were born with greatness

You were born with wings.

You are not meant for crawling, so don't.

You have wings.

Learn to use them and fly.” 

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Getting a hearing

A journalist heard about a very old Jewish man had been going to the Western-Wall to pray, twice a day, everyday, for a very long time.

So she went to check it out. She went to the Western Wall and there he was, walking slowly up to the holy site.

She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, using a cane and moving very slowly, she approached him for an interview.

"Pardon me, sir, I'm a journalist . What's your name?"

"Morris Feinberg," he replied.

"Sir, how long have you been coming to the Western Wall and praying?"

"For about 60 years."

"60 years! That's amazing! What do you pray for?"

"I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims."

"I pray for all the wars and all the hatred to stop."

"I pray for all our children to grow up safely as responsible adults and to love their fellow man."

"I pray that politicians tell us the truth and put the interests of the people ahead of their own interests."

"How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?"

"Like I'm talking to a wall!"

NOT AS HAPPY AS YOU

Sometimes in life we feel so blue, 
But someone, somewhere is not as happy as you... 

Somewhere far at the border when a soldier sleeps, 
Missing his loved ones he silently weeps............... 

Somewhere a mother painfully sighs, 
Coz her new born baby didnt open her eyes............ 

Somewhere a poor dad silently cries, 
When he sees his son begging for a bowl of rice.......... 

Somewhere in an orphanage a little girl's sad, 
When she misses her mom n dad... 

So at times a reason to smile you may not have any, 
Say to yourself that you're happier than many.......... 
Coz life is beautiful and its not always blue, 
And someone, somewhere is not as happy as you


My thanks to Raj Gurwada for this poem

Jesus in my wallet

A ticket collector found an old wallet in the overcrowded train compartment.   All it contained was a little money and a picture of Jesus Christ.  


He held it up and asked, 'Who does this wallet belong to?'

An old man claimed it was his.  The ticket collector demanded proof.  
The old man smiled and said, 'It has a picture of Jesus Christ in it.' 
The ticket collector was not satisfied. He demanded  to know why there was a picture of Jesus Christ in his wallet and not of the old man.




The old man patiently began to explain,  'While in school I received pocket money from my father, who gave me this wallet to keep my money. I loved my parents and therefore kept a picture of them in it.

As a teenager I was quite handsome and vain, so I replaced my parent's picture with my own. 


Some years later, I fell in love and got married. After marriage I placed my wife's picture instead of my own in the wallet.

Soon thereafter I fathered a beautiful son, thereafter his picture occupied the prized position in my wallet.'


Glassy eyed, the old man continued.. 'My parents and my wife passed away many years ago.  My son is preoccupied with his family and work,  to bother about me. 


All those I ran after, have become more distant from me. The only one who never left me was my Lord. I then realized that only God is my eternal companion and I am never lonely now. That's why I have this picture of Jesus Christ in my wallet.

The humbled collector returned the wallet with a sheepish smile.  At the next station the ticket collector went to the bookseller and asked for a picture of His Lord to place in  his wallet.


Overflowing with joy and excitement with his recent awakening, the ticket collector tried to enthuse the bookseller. It was a futile attempt for the disinterested seller was at exactly the same state of mind and heart as had been the collector an hour earlier.


The collector softly said, 'Lord, you are so near, and yet so far  for those who unfortunately do not seek you. Thank you, for sending the old man into my life.' 




I am grateful to my friend Harry Daswani in China, for the essence of this message.