The Light of the Mystical

The World Seems to Be

The world but seems to be
yet is nothing more than a line drawn between light and shadow.
Decipher the message of this dream-script
and learn to distinguish time from Eternity.
-Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi

Read the Book

Read the book that contains
Neither letters nor ink,
Neither digits nor form.
-Ravidas

All Without

Dance there without feet
and clap to time without hands
See the beauty without eyes;
without ears hear the melody.
-Dharani

Soft Sound of Snow

If only I could share it:
The soft sound of snow
Falling late at night
At this old temple.
-Hakuin

The earth rains and wets the sky,
the lamp burns without wick or oil.
Within brightness is there the light;
so look to the colours - colourless bright.
Taste the sweet pulp of the fruit,
without a flower fructified.
To whom am I to express myself,
who will understand me?
-Yari

Only Known by Naked Feet and Soles

The intellect describes greatly the sands of the seashore.
But the softness of the sand kissed by the waves
is only known by naked feet and soles.
-Allama Muhammad Iqbal

Someone Who Knows the Heart

Oh heart, sit with someone
who knows the heart;
Go under the tree
which has fresh blossoms.
-Djalal ad-Din Rumi

That Fragrance!

Alone in mountain fastness,
Dozing by the window.
No mere talk uncovers Truth:
The fragrance of those garden plums!
-Bankei

Blooming

All beings are flowers
Blooming
In a blooming universe.
-Soen

All is Contained in the Divine Breath

All is contained in the Divine Breath
like the day in the morning's dawn.
-Ibn 'Arabi

The Field and the Fruit

Sow the field of love
and give it the water of knowledge;
The fruit of manifestation ripens
when you bring your attention on the Beloved.
-Bujh Niranjan

Revealed in a Flower Petal

The secret of Being and Non-Being
is revealed in a flower petal.
-Allama Muhammad Iqbal

Single Volume Bound By Love

I saw within Its depth how It conceives all things
in a single volume bound by Love,
of which the universe is the scattered leaves.
-Dante Alighieri

Love is the Wine

Love is the wine
contained in the cup of time.
-Allama Muhammed Iqbal

The Shadows Brush the Steps

The shadows of the bamboo
brush the temple steps
but the dust is not raised
-Zen

The World is a Mirror

Know the world from end to end is a mirror;
in each atom a hundred suns are concealed.
If you pierce the heart of a single drop of water,
from it will flow a hundred clear oceans;
if you look intently at each speck of dust,
in it you will see a thousand beings.
-Mahmud Shabistari

Hold the Thought of the Ocean

Thou art a drop in the ocean.
But if thou wilt hold the thought of the ocean,
thou wilt be the same.
-Zab-un Nissa

Even the Waves

The moon reflected
In a mind clear
As still water:
Even the waves, breaking,
Are reflecting its light.
-Dogen

Only the Sea

'Waves' we call them;
but there is only the Sea.
-Fakhr adl-Din 'Iraqi

The Core of Everything

Why this much ado about little differences
When the core of everything is Eternal Silence?
-Allama Muhammad Iqbal

If There Are No Blocks

If no mountains block the great ocean,
the light of the sky joins directly with the water.
-Daian

The Sound of the Lute

No one can understand the sound of the lute
without understanding both the lute
and the one who plays it.
-Upanishads

Give the Wind

The reeds give way to the wind
and give the wind away.
-A. R. Ammons

Pay Attention to Her

hiding in this cage
of visible matter

is the invisible
lifebird

pay attention
to her

she is singing
your song

-Kabir

You Who Want Knowledge

You who want
knowledge,
seek the Oneness
within

There you
will find
the clear mirror
already waiting
-Hadewijch

Rich with Hidden Treasures

O friend, understand: the body is like the ocean,
rich with hidden treasures.
Open your inmost chamber and light its lamp.
Within the body are gardens,
rare flowers, peacocks, the inner Music;
within the body a lake of bliss,
on it the white soul-swans take their joy.
-Mirabai

O Rider of the Bull

The sun and the moon,
O Rider of the Bull,
aren't they really
your body?
-Devara Dasimayya

I Hold the Sun and Moon in Balance

The sun and the moon
I hold in balance with the attention of my mind.
-Namdev

Great Laughter

Ten years' searching in the deep forest
Today great laughter at the edge of the lake.
-Soen

I Became Water

I became water
and saw myself
a mirage
became an ocean
saw myself a speck
of foam
gained Awareness
saw that all is but
forgetfulness
woke up
and found myself
asleep.
-Binavi Badakhshani

The Lily Bursts into Bloom

The lily bursts into bloom
At the sight of the full moon.
-Mirabai

When the Day Came

When the Day came -
The Day I had lived and died for -
The Day that is not in any calendar -
Clouds heavy with love
Showered me with wild abundance.
Inside me, my soul was drenched.
Around me, even the desert grew green.
-Kabir

All Radiance

I'm all radiance from eye to heart:
A lover's union is a festival of lights.
-Mirza Ghalib

Flooded with the Light of Love

My body is flooded
With the light of love,
My soul radiates with bliss;
Love's fragrance
Fills my mouth,
Its aroma spreads
With each word I speak.
-Kabir

I Cannot Answer

My friend, I cannot answer when you ask me to explain
what has befallen me.
Love is transformed, renewed, each moment.
-Vidyapati

Not a Single Thorn Remains

I used to see in every object a thorn
but never a rose -
the universe became a rose garden.
Not a single thorn remains.
-Niyazi Misri

Because I Love

Because I love
There is an invisible way across the sky.
Birds travel by that way, the sun and moon
And all the stars travel that path by night.
-Kathleen Raine

Behold One

I am love;
I am the beloved;
no less am I the lover.
I am the mirror and I am the beauty.
Therefore behold one myself.
-Abu Sa'id Abi 'l-Khayr

True Seeing

Wherever I looked, I saw my own Self!
O Lalli! This is the true seeing.
-Lalla Ded

Secret Inner Form

Though he has no form
my eyes saw him,

his glory is fire in my mind
that knows

his secret inner form
invented by the soul.

-Muktabai

Nowhere At All

Who speaks the sound of an echo?
Who paints the image in a mirror?
Where are the spectacles in a dream?
Nowhere at all -
That's the nature of the mind!
-quoted by Miranda Shaw

See What Cannot Be Seen

When you see what cannot be seen,
Your mind becomes innately free - reality!
Leave the stallion, the wind, behind -
The rider, the mind, will soar in the sky!
-quoted by Miranda Shaw

Veiling

There was nothing that was veiled for him,
and he covered with a veil
the essence of everything he had seen.
-Inscription beneath the Statue of Phtahmer

The One I Longed For

The one I longed for has come home.
-Mirabai

The True Person

The true person is
Not anyone in particular;
But, like the deep blue color
Of the limitless sky,
It is everyone, everywhere in the world.
-Dogen

Every Step I Take is My Home

But do not ask me where I am going,
As I travel in this limitless world,
Where every step I take is my home.
-Dogen

Noonday Moon

When the moon is in the sky at noonday
her presence is known only to herself.
-Jnanadeva

Those Who Know

Those who know quiet, alone,
are as carefree as the flowers in the breeze,
as pure as the snow in the moonlight.
-Hong Zicheng

I've Become

The moon's the same old moon,
The flowers exactly as they were,
Yet I've become the thingness
Of all the things I see!
-Bunan

Listening to the Rain

Because the mind is free -
Listening to the rain
Dripping from the eaves,
The drops become
One with me.
-Dogen

Everlasting Flowers

Because the flowers blooming
In our original home
Are everlasting,
Though springtimes may come and go
Their colors do not fade.
-Dogen

Who Needs Flowers

Breath for fragrance,
who needs flowers?

With peace, patience, forgiving and self-command,

who needs the Ultimate Posture?

The whole world becomes oneself

who needs solitude,

O lord white as jasmine.

-Akka Mahadevi

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