Topic: Sufi Sayings

[Firestarter]

I come to you, aching for you. You say, 'You're drunk. Go away.' I say 'No. I'm not drunk. Please open the door.' You say, 'You are, you are.. Go away'.

~Rumi

[Firestarter]

Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, "I'll do nothing until I can be sure". Merchants know better. If you do nothing, you lose. Don't be one of those merchants who wont risk the ocean. ~Rumi

[Firestarter]

Travelers, it is late.
Life's sun is going to set.
During these brief days that you have strength,
be quick and spare no effort of your wings.

~Rumi

[Firestarter]

Our death is our wedding with eternity.
What is the secret? "God is One."
The sunlight splits when entering the windows of the house.
This multiplicity exists in the cluster of grapes;
It is not in the juice made from the grapes.
For he who is living in the Light of God,
The death of the carnal soul is a blessing.
Regarding him, say neither bad nor good,
For he is gone beyond the good and the bad.
Fix your eyes on God and do not talk about what is invisible,
So that he may place another look in your eyes.
It is in the vision of the physical eyes
That no invisible or secret thing exists.
But when the eye is turned toward the Light of God
What thing could remain hidden under such a Light?
Although all lights emanate from the Divine Light
Don't call all these lights "the Light of God";
It is the eternal light which is the Light of God,
The ephemeral light is an attribute of the body and the flesh.
...Oh God who gives the grace of vision!
The bird of vision is flying towards You with the wings of desire.

~Rumi

[Firestarter]

We see only exteriors but the inner realities are hidden from our perception. Our bodies live in this world, but our inner beings live in another dimension, another realm. Access to this inner being is the entire function of the way.

[Firestarter]

Imperfection and ugliness are not part of the nature of things but only in the impurity of our regard of them. The more the soul is at peace, perfect and pure, the more it is disposed to see in everything a manifestation of divine Light. Everything then becomes beautiful. Only the unpolished heart of the disciple makes things appear ugly.

Divine Light gyrates around the disciple’s heart. The runway must be entirely clear in order that the plane may land. In similar fashion if our heart is full of desires and passions, divine light cannot find a place to seat itself.

Wisdom is in the heart. He who wishes to find water in his well must dig for it. The more he digs, the more the water is abundant. If he ceases to dig, water will always remain at its minimal level. He who digs should never think that the water has reached its maximal level. He should continue digging, as the well has no limits.

Everyone should watch over his heart. All suggestions should be rejected. Also one should reject everything that is unhealthy and try to remain open to all of the divine graces, and to everything that is positive and that which favours his spiritual progress. But how to reject negative suggestions? When you feel their presence, you must tell your ego that it is wrong and that it is you yourself who harbours faults and not others. “It is I who is wrong.  If I see a fault in another it is because it is in me. Otherwise I would not have seen it”.

[Michael]

Bahauddin Naq'shbandi said:

"Our way is that of group discussion. In solitude, there is renown and in renown there is peril. Welfare is to be found in a group. Those who follow this way find great benefit and blessing in group-meetings."

[Michael]

Khawaja Azizan said:

"The secret of effective zikr is to repeat each phrase as if it were your last breath, this is why it is called 'wounded' zikr."

[Michael]

Abdulhalik Gujduvani's Sufi spiritual techniques, as preserved in the Essence of the Teaching of the Masters, can be reduced to the following:

1. Be present at every breath. Remember yourself always and in all situations.

2. Keep your intention before you at every step you take. You wish for freedom and you must never forget it.

3. Your journey is toward your homeland. You are travelling from the world of appearances to the World of Reality.

4. Solitude in the crowd. In all your outward activity remain inwardly free. Learn not to identify yourself with anything whatsoever.

5. Remember your Friend. Let the prayer of your tongue be the prayer of your heart.

6. Struggle against alien thoughts.

7. Be constantly aware of the quality of Diving Presence in your heart.

[Firestarter]

These are good, and easier said than done too

Abdulhalik Gujduvani's Sufi spiritual techniques, as preserved in the Essence of the Teaching of the Masters, can be reduced to the following:

1. Be present at every breath. Remember yourself always and in all situations.

2. Keep your intention before you at every step you take. You wish for freedom and you must never forget it.

3. Your journey is toward your homeland. You are travelling from the world of appearances to the World of Reality.

4. Solitude in the crowd. In all your outward activity remain inwardly free. Learn not to identify yourself with anything whatsoever.

5. Remember your Friend. Let the prayer of your tongue be the prayer of your heart.

6. Struggle against alien thoughts.

7. Be constantly aware of the quality of Diving Presence in your heart.

[Michael]

These are the Northern Sufis - they are not romantic like the Southern Sufis. They are pragmatic and dedicated to freedom - highly influenced by Buddhism.

[erik]

6. Struggle against alien thoughts.

That is very Toltec as well.

http://restlesssoma.com.au/soma/index.php?topic=19.msg31408#msg31408

[Firestarter]

A self-sacrificing way,
but also a warrior's way, and not
for brittle, easily broken, glass-bottle people.

The soul is tested here by sheer terror
as a sieve sifts and separates
genuine from fake.

And this road is full of footprints!
Companions have come before.
They are your ladder.
Use them!

~Rumi

[Nichi]

If words come out of the heart, they will enter the heart, but if they
come from the tongue, they will not pass beyond the ears.

al-Suhrawardi

[Nichi]

You will not be a mystic until you are like the earth -- both the righteous and the sinner tread upon it -- and until you are like the clouds -- they shade all things -- and until you are like the rain -- it waters all things, whether it loves them or not.

Bayzid Bistami

as collected by James Fadiman & Robert Frager