Topic: The Vintage Man

[nichi]

THE VINTAGE MAN

The
Difference
Between a good artist
And a great one

Is:

The novice
Will often lay down his tool
Or brush

Then pick up an invisible club
On the mind's table

And helplessly smash the easels and
Jade.

Whereas the vintage man
No longer hurts himself or anyone

And keeps on
Sculpting

Light.


~ Hafiz ~

(The Gift - versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

[Jennifer-]

 

[Michael]

i like that one

[nichi]

WE HAVE NOT COME TO TAKE PRISONERS

We have not come here to take prisoners,
But to surrender ever more deeply
To freedom and joy.

We have not come into this exquisite world
To hold ourselves hostage from love.

Run my dear,
From anything
That may not strengthen
Your precious budding wings.

Run like hell my dear,
From anyone likely
To put a sharp knife
Into the sacred, tender vision
Of your beautiful heart.

We have a duty to befriend
Those aspects of obedience
That stand outside of our house
And shout to our reason
"O please, O please,
Come out and play."

For we have not come here to take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous spirits,

But to experience ever and ever more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom and
Light!

~ Hafiz ~

[Jennifer-]

 

[nichi]

GERONIMO!

You might hear the beautiful shout of "Geronimo"
from a lover who has just dove from a
cliff and is heading full speed
into the Ocean -- into the
Beloved.

And of course there will always be lots of gab
along the shore from those who are
drawn to God

but have yet to really get bare assed
and go in.

"Geronimo" may be the last word we hear
from that brave gal falling 625 MPH
from a cliff,

for once beneath the sea,
once within the
Water,

only fish open their mouths, still bargaining
for something.

The soul becomes quiet in ecstasy, so quiet.
Love speaks in absence of God,
not in the heights
of passion.

~Hafiz by Ladinsky

[nichi]

Covers Her Face With Both Hands


What
We speak
Becomes the house we live in.

Who will want to sleep in your bed
If the roof leaks
Right above
It?

Look what happens when the tongue
Cannot say to kindness,

“I will be your slave.”

The moon
Covers her face with both hands

And can't bear
To look.


~Hafiz by Ladinsky~

[nichi]

But... it appears that Daniel Ladinsky's primary collection of poetry entitled "The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master"... actually contains no lines of poetry written by Hafiz! (You can read a brief article discussing this at http://home.jps.net/~nada/hafiz.htm )

Daniel Ladinsky suggests this in his introduction to the book, when he writes, "I feel my relationship to Hafiz defies all reason and is really an attempt to do the impossible: to translate Light into words -- to make the luminous resonance of God tangible to our finite senses. About six months into this work I had an astounding dream in which I saw Hafiz an Infinite Fountaining Sun (I saw him as God), who sang hundreds of lines of his poetry to me in English, asking me to give that message to 'my artists and seekers.'"

You might say that Ladinsky's poetry is "inspired by" Hafiz. Or, if you prefer a broader interpretation, you could say Ladinsky channels Hafiz. But his "translations" are not the historical writings of Hafiz.

Enjoy Ladinsky's playful, profound poetry. But look to other books if you want to savor the historical poetry of Hafiz that Sufis have delighted in for centuries.
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/H/HafizLadinsk/index.htm

I extrapolate that he does this with his other 'translations' as well ... I give you these for consideration:

LANDLOCKED IN FUR

I was meditating with my cat the other day
and all of a sudden she shouted,
"What happened?"

I knew exactly what she meant, but encouraged
her to say more--feeling that if she got it all out on the table
she would sleep better that night.

so I responded, "Tell me more, dear,"
and she soulfully meowed,

"Well, I was mingled with the sky. I was comets
whizzing here and there. I was suns in heat, hell--I was
galaxies. But now look--I am
landlocked in fur."

To this I said, "I know exactly what
you mean."

What to say about conversation
between

mystics?


Tukaram

Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices From the East and West
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

and

GERONIMO!

You might hear the beautiful shout of "Geronimo"
from a lover who has just dove from a
cliff and is heading full speed
into the Ocean -- into the
Beloved.

And of course there will always be lots of gab
along the shore from those who are
drawn to God

but have yet to really get bare assed
and go in.

"Geronimo" may be the last word we hear
from that brave gal falling 625 MPH
from a cliff,

for once beneath the sea,
once within the
Water,

only fish open their mouths, still bargaining
for something.

The soul becomes quiet in ecstasy, so quiet.
Love speaks in absence of God,
not in the heights
of passion.

~Hafiz by Ladinsky

and

Two Bears
 
Once
After a hard day's forage
Two bears sat together in silence
On a beautiful vista
Watching the sun go down
And feeling deeply grateful
For life.
 
Though, after a while
A thought-provoking conversation began
Which turned to the topic of
Fame.
 
The one bear said,
"Did you hear about Rustam?
He has become famous
And travels from city to city
In a golden cage;
 
He performs to hundreds of people
Who laugh and applaud
His carnival
Stunts."
 
The other bear thought for
A few seconds
 
Then started
Weeping.
 
 
~Hafiz by Ladinsky~

Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky



and


THE SACRAMENTS
 
I once spoke to my friend, an old squirrel, about the Sacraments –
he got so excited
 
and ran into a hollow in his tree and came
back holding some acorns, an owl feather,
and a ribbon he had found.
 
And I just smiled and said, “Yes, dear,
you understand:
 
everything imparts
His grace.”
 
~ Saint Francis of Assisi
 

Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky

What emerges to me is a unique Voice, running through all of these poems, however they are attributed.

I don't have a problem with his method. It's the Voice, it's Spirit, which seeps into my ear, with its buzzing and tinkling. And I submit the same may have been said for the Voice of Don Juan as submitted by CC ...

The "authentic" is not a case of documentation and empirical proof: it's the hair standing at the back of the neck and the forearms, the zinging of vibrations down the spine, the little buzzing in the ear...

No small feat, those effects!

[daphne]

The "authentic" is not a case of documentation and empirical proof: it's the hair standing at the back of the neck and the forearms, the zinging of vibrations down the spine, the little buzzing in the ear...

Yep!   

[daphne]

LANDLOCKED IN FUR

I was meditating with my cat the other day
and all of a sudden she shouted,
"What happened?"

I knew exactly what she meant, but encouraged
her to say more--feeling that if she got it all out on the table
she would sleep better that night.

so I responded, "Tell me more, dear,"
and she soulfully meowed,

"Well, I was mingled with the sky. I was comets
whizzing here and there. I was suns in heat, hell--I was
galaxies. But now look--I am
landlocked in fur."

To this I said, "I know exactly what
you mean."

What to say about conversation
between

mystics?


Tukaram

Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices From the East and West
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Love this one!   

[Michael]

For we have not come here to take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous spirits,

But to experience ever and ever more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom and
Light!

time to release all prisoners of our soul