Saturday, March 08, 2008

Rumi and the soul


Yesterday at the yoga/ health and "whatnot" blog
I was musing about soil and soul,
and mentioned the possibility of
further musings
and
ideas
on the
"soul" part of that pair.

(Nice pair,
eh,
soil
and soul.
Deep,
rich,
sweet,
fertile,
and so on.)

So, let's start with some soul
possibilities and immediate associations:

One:
it sounds like a big deal, doesn't it?

Two,
it sounds like a fertile field for all sorts
of random and metaphysical nonsense,

of the sort:
"My soul yearns for connection
to the truth,"

"i am lost without my soul
mate"

"the soul yearns for the Infinite."

all these statements
could be true,
and could be the sort of pseudo truth
that can drive anyone crazy

Three:
it could be a way of paying
attention to something more
important than we usually pay attention to,
as
in
"What profit a person
to gain the world
and lose
their soul,"

though these days,
most people will
take the world
or even a big chunk of it
(even a little chunk)
in a minute
over something vague
and possibly wonderful
like the soul

Four:
it's a nice concept
to consider
as a concept

Five:
it's a nice concept
to imagine
experiencing
without any concept

Six:
????

and let's let a little Rumi
speak to this yearning
which may be from our "soul,"
or our deepest self
or
our self
or ??????

Here's Rumi:

"a craftsman pulled a reed from the reedbed,
and cut holes in it,
and called it a human being

Since then, it has been wailing
a tender agony of parting,
never mentioning the skill
that gave it life as a flute."

from a Coleman Barks translation,
of course

So Rumi
takes us
to a place of vague remembrance,
or forgetting
of some greater
origin

and maybe that remembrance
is through the/ our soul
and maybe what we (almost)
remember
is our soul

and maybe our little soul
remembers the Big Soul
that crafted it

and maybe....


and
and
in the quiet moments
we do sense a connection
to something vast
and amazing

something vast
and small
and everything
and
nothing

(covering all the bases here)
and
maybe that has something to do
with what we try to do
with the word
(it's just a word,
a concept)
soul

the soul
as that within us
that recognizes
this simplicity
and this immensity

and others
might say
the soul
is this immensity

actually, just occurs to me
if you want to have a sweet experience
and get bambozzled by a lot of Deep Soul
truth/ nonsense
read the Alchemist,
by Paulo Cueho,
either great wise one,
or con man,
or a bit of both

and,
i have to admit
the book is sweet
sweet
seductive
and ......

you find out

if you want


tomorrow,
at http://wakeup-feldenkrais.blogspot.com/
we'll talk about body
and soul

or brain
and soul

who knows
tomorrow
is another day


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Thursday, January 17, 2008

rumi of the day

today
like lots of other days
we wake up frightened
planning
in the future or past
asleep to our real self

don't open the door to
the study
and begin reading

don't open the computer
and begin emailing

take down the lute
and sing

take your feet
outdoors
and walk
under a ceiling five miles high

let the beauty we love, be what we do
there are thousands of ways to kneel
and kiss the ground

rumi,
and me



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Thursday, January 10, 2008

what's with this chi thing?, rumi poem, my poem, la, la

marlie and sophie
Marlie and Sophie, after Marlie's demo video Saturday

is there chi
yes?
ain't there chi
no?

tai chi
my chi
you chi
chi for two
two for chi
chi gung

gung ho

ho ho

ha ha

if we are alive
and present
and laugh

and
love

does it
matter?
if the chi
is whatever it's purported to
be
or
something
else?




Rumi poem:

Remember the lips
where wind-breath
originated,
and let your song
be clear.

don't hold back
Be your song

if you don't think
that's enough
so be it

it is

go up on your roof
tops
and get silly:
sing out your song
as if you
belong

to the Universe

(my version)




my poem:

raining
and the
pain

is waiting
to ease into
our
forgetting

so
remember
the sun
is shining
behind
each
and every cloud

no silver linings
today

only total
love

and then:
a smile
a sigh
and the day
sinks
into sweet dark night



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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

more water, rumi, learning

marlie backbend
i can only do this,
but to a lesser extent,
and so what,
even to know
we have a back
and can bend even a little bit that way,
is to begin to realize
how amazing it is
how amazing it is
how amazing we are
how amazing this
time is

to be in this human
body
for this
short/ long
brilliant
and wonderful
(and awful,
when we let the story
get us down)
life
on
earth
thing


the day is wet
the fingers are cold
the stomach is full

my attention
is now
and then
not now
and back
again:

life on earth

the waters
come
the waters go
the waters come back
again

so be it

how much can we love
this life



Imagine a man selling his donkey
to be with Jesus

And now
Imagine him selling Jesus
to get a ride on a donkey.
This does happen .

Rumi



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