What happens when… Being beyond… Man as metaphor. & What happens when the carrier becomes the carried? & Ocean of voices…breaking ‘front’ of the waves As they reach the shore; us…connected to the ocean Yet somehow separate We are that ‘waveform!’ * Have you ever stood on the shore Of a vast ocean, … Continue reading Gifts from the Beloved: from the Ocean to the Shore
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Are Sufis Nomads?
‘Siyaha’ or ‘Safar’ - Wandering in search of the Beloved According to a paper by Arin Salamah Qudsi (“Crossing the Desert: Siyaha, and Safar as key concepts in early Sufi Literature and Life”), these two terms both refer to ‘travelling’ in early Sufism, however, only the first of them, siyaha (which relates to the ‘science … Continue reading Are Sufis Nomads?
The Power of Words and their Currency
“Why do you speak in riddles Master?” So that they might hear but not understand lest they turn again and are forgiven! (Based on Mark 4:10-12, and D. Crossan, “The Power of Parable,” p20). Words are important, but they can loose currency. Statements that once stung us awake can become soporifics to lull us to … Continue reading The Power of Words and their Currency
‘Nomads and Freedom’
When I first arrived in the remote desert country of the Northern Territory of Australia, I was amazed, shocked to some extent, by the lives these sparse remote deserts had nurtured for seemingly endless spans of time. So arid, so desolate in some ways, yet also full of life even if one had to look … Continue reading ‘Nomads and Freedom’
‘The Nomadic Farewell’
It is said that the Romani, when they are close to death, too old, too tired, to continue their long round of ‘travelling’ are taken by those closest to them back for a final visit to the places that they loved the best in their younger days. Over the past weekend my eldest son organised … Continue reading ‘The Nomadic Farewell’
‘When is enough, Enough?’
When is enough, enough? When do we say This… And no more? Almost a year ago now, I had a dream in which I was given the answer to this question. What difference did it make? When is enough, enough? Dancing, dervish style. In one hand, my left, An empty bottle of wine. … Continue reading ‘When is enough, Enough?’
‘What Seed are You’
When all is said and done, when the last ball has been bowled, and the stumps are about to be pulled from the ground in which they are embedded, Which ‘seed’ are you? (Mixed metaphors a speciality) We can do better yet When the last ball has been bowled, and the last race, run – … Continue reading ‘What Seed are You’
‘Names and Forms: Resistance to the Word’
The Names, which are so central to a Sufic understanding of the Path and their ‘Origin/ator,’ are mediated by the world (read universe) and all it contains. Like a pure stream of water meeting a dam that explores the contours of its constraint seeking to move forward. How are we to read this? Like this … Continue reading ‘Names and Forms: Resistance to the Word’
‘We the Hollow Men: Between the Conception and the Creation’
We, the *‘Hollow Men,’ wait in line for the realisation that will unwind the complexity of our world, all the time failing to realise it is we who are this ‘complication.’ What would it mean to be free of this shadow-world that we both create and inhabit I wonder? There is something lurking in the … Continue reading ‘We the Hollow Men: Between the Conception and the Creation’
‘Patterns of Order’
There is no point at which one can stop and look – looking must be contiguous with becoming else what we see is the past not the present. Shapes indicate or point to probability not finitude, finitude vanishes where contiguity is absent (‘The sound of one hand clapping’). We can know something of the possible … Continue reading ‘Patterns of Order’
Tracks in a Pathless Land 