Quote of the Week

We are not made for one another,

We are made for God.

Radhanath Swami

A Dweller Among The Tulip Beds

I have no grievance with life itself;

Wherefore the mountains stand, and streams flow to---
The infinite vastness of the realm blanketed with stars
Inquiring not the reason for my being
Why ask of which is---can it be changed?
My creator and author of my destiny foretell of my death
Rumi once wrote, "do not talk of what is invisible"
Born with free will, It is the quality I have dominion over
Not the existence of--- my being do I rule?
Half way through my life, reflecting back
All those tears of suffering and shame---
Engraved deep within my heart, scars from the past
Who creates these things which make me weep?
Searching for gold in tar pits, my soul held captive by evil
The warm sands and cool waters placed before me,
Comforting to my soul, I overlooked its sanctity
Demented thoughts overpowering all morals---
Forgotten serenity, replaced by lust and fantasy
Life given to new flesh, born with no sorrows,
It is in our own self-seeking cold hearts we suffer
Creation itself is a miraculous symphony conducted by God,
It is I, which caused the cataclysm in my life.
Quoting Rumi once more I say this with compassion,
"If your face has become saffron pale through death,
Become a dweller among tulip beds and Judas trees"
Flee the tar pits, the gold is not there, seek not among the mire
Look amidst the streams and stars high, towards the heavens
There you will find the omniscience of joy.

ELM Schindler

‎"There is a reason I said I'd be happy alone. It wasnt because I thought I would be happy alone. It was because I thought if I loved someone and then it fell apart, I might not make it. It's easier to be alone. Because what if you learn that you need love? And then you don't have it. What if you like it? And lean on it? What if you shape your life around it? And then it falls apart? Can you even survive that kind of pain? Losing love is like organ damage. It's like dying. The only difference is, death ends. This? It could go on forever."

Meredith Grey

Whatever happens to you, don’t fall in despair. Even if all the doors are closed, a secret path will be there for you that no one knows. You can’t see it yet but so many paradises are at the end of this path. Be grateful! It is easy to thank after obtaining what you want, thank before having what you want.

Rumi

Quote of the week

The real dirt is not outside, but inside, in our hearts. We can wash all stains with water. The only one we can’t remove is the grudge and the bad intentions sticking to our hearts.

Shams of Tabriz

After four years of drought in the small north-east village, the priest gathered everyone for a pilgrimage up to the mountain; there they would do a collective prayer, asking for the rain to fall again.

In the group, the priest noticed a boy wearing a raincoat.

‘Are you crazy?’ he asked the boy.

‘It hasn’t rained in this region for five years and the heat from hiking up the mountain will kill you.’

The boy replied: ‘I have a cold, priest. If we are going to ask God for rain, can you imagine our return from the mountain? It will be a spate and I need to be prepared.’

At this moment, they heard a great roar coming from the sky and the first drops began to fall. It sufficed the faith of a boy in a miracle that even the most prepared ones didn’t believe in.

Source: //paulocoelhoblog.com/

The Dream That Must Be Interpreted

This place is a dream.

Only a sleeper considers it real.

Then death comes like dawn,

and you wake up laughing

at what you thought was your grief.

But there's a difference with this dream.

Everything cruel and unconscious

done in the illusion of the present world,

all that does not fade away at the death-waking.

It stays,

and it must be interpreted.

All the mean laughing,

all the quick, sexual wanting,

those torn coats of Joseph,

they change into powerful wolves

that you must face.

The retaliation that sometimes comes now,

the swift, payback hit,

is just a boy's game

to what the other will be.

You know about circumcision here.

It's full castration there!

And this groggy time we live,

this is what it's like:

A man goes to sleep in the town

where he has always lived, and he dreams he's living

in another town.

In the dream, he doesn't remember

the town he's sleeping in his bed in.  He believes

the reality of the dream town.

The world is that kind of sleep.

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

Quote of the week

There comes a time when every life goes off course. In this desperate moment you must choose your direction. Will you fight to stay on the path while others tell you who you are? Or will you label yourself? Will you be honored by your choice? Or will you embrace your new path? Each morning you choose to move forward or to simply give up.

One tree hill

5 Things Spike Lee Knows For Sure

1. You never know when the muse is going to strike.

I've talked to a lot of great artists—Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis—about this, and they all agree it can come from anywhere; you just have to be open to it. It's exciting to get that first germ of an idea. I knew I'd make a movie called Do the Right Thing before I even knew what it would be about. Based on that title, I wrote a script on loose-leaf paper for 12 days straight.

2. Acupuncture works.

I started doing it in March after my trainer recommended it. Now I feel better physically, and I'm less stressed. I even suggested it to Jeremy Lin [the New York Knicks phenom], but he said, "Spike, I hate needles. I can't do it."

3. To master anything, you have to study the masters.

Take Mike Tyson—he's a boxing historian. He's watched thousands of hours of fights, beginning when he was a teenager. It still astounds me that some of my film students at NYU haven't seen Lawrence of Arabia or On the Waterfront. When you learn from seminal artists or athletes, you see that a lot of the stuff you think you've made up has been done by others for years.

4. Doubting yourself invites failure.

Do you think when Derek Jeter strikes out, he says, "I'm terrible; I should retire"? No; he says, "I'm going to knock it out of the park tomorrow." If something throws me for a loop, I shake it off and keep stepping.

5. Every minute I'm above ground, I'm thankful for.

 haven't eaten red meat in years because I'd like to be alive as long as I can. I've got a lot to do before I kick it.

The 10 Best Pieces of Life Advice from Writers.

"It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers." —James Thurber

"Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise."—Alice Walker

"When people show you who they are, believe them the first time."—Maya Angelou

"When people talk, listen completely."—Ernest Hemingway

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out just how far one can go."—T.S. Eliot

"Don't ever confuse—your life and your work. The second is only part of the first."—Anna Quindlen

"The best way out is always through."—Robert Frost

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.—Henry James

"A good time to laugh is anytime you can."—Linda Ellerbee

"Be the heroine of your life, not the victim."—Nora Ephron

Source: http://www.oprah.com/blogs/The-10-Best-Pieces-of-Life-Advice-from-Writers#ixzz27saJ4Dj2