new lands...

in this garden...
august 2, 2008

dear friends!! in the garden near the teahouse, on an august night, we may sit and watch as the fireflies dance beneath the stars. in this garden, on an august night, we may talk quietly about matters of the heart, and contemplate the words of beloved poets...

~that lives in us~

if you put your hands on this oar with me,
they will never harm another, and they will come to find
they hold everything you want.

if you put your hands on this oar with me, they would no longer
lift anything to your
mouth that might wound your precious land-
that sacred earth that is
your body.

if you put your soul against this oar with me,
the power that made the universe will enter your sinew
from a source not outside your limbs, but from a holy realm
that lives in us.

exuberant is existence, time a husk.

when the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space;
love goes mad with the blessings, like my words give.

why lay yourself on the torturer’s rack of the past and future?

the mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities
will find no rest.

be kind to yourself, dear- to our innocent follies.

forget any sounds or touch you knew that did not help you dance.

you will come to see that all evolves us.

if you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving
every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm
and we will be, we will be
so happy.

~jelaluddin rumi~

resources for the journey:

jelaluddin rumi, on poetseers
new lands, a photoset on flickr
the awakening heart...

and remembering tea and friends...

tea meditation, from plum village

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne