Friend or foe it brings us all to our ends, carried on its swift current. Have you ever stood near the edge of a waterfall and watched As the river hurtles to its end, yet There, way down below, beneath the drifting spray, one can see A new place of gathering? Now, turn, take a … Continue reading The Tyranny of Time? (2)
Tag: Sufism
‘Barriers and Benefits on the Path of Return’
Why not remove the barriers completely? Why not let salt and the fresh waters intermingle, let them find their own balance? This is what actually happens anyway isn’t it? If everyone’s journey in this universe is unique then every step – unless accidental – is their own (which indeed represents – in this metaphor – … Continue reading ‘Barriers and Benefits on the Path of Return’
‘The Way of Opening: Self-Forgetfulness’
‘This self-forgetfulness, Zhuangzi [Daoist, 370-311 BCE] explained, was an ekstasis [ecstasy] that enabled you to ‘step outside’ the prism of ego and experience the divine. People who acquired this knack discovered a transcendent dimension of life that was not simply an external reality ‘out there’ but was identical with the deepest level of their being … Continue reading ‘The Way of Opening: Self-Forgetfulness’
‘The Tyranny of Unfinished Business’
It was the Buddha’s contention that rebirth came about as a result of ‘unfinished business’ (sometimes called a ‘swirl of events’). Today, on waking, the usual morning routine of drawing together all the fragments of body/mind along with the associated swirl of pain and other nonsense occurred, however this morning it was accompanied by this … Continue reading ‘The Tyranny of Unfinished Business’
‘Opening to Truth: The Sower and the Seed’
A little while ago I began to write some more on the subject of speaking up, speaking out, in defence of ‘Truth.’ Although Truth needs no defence for it can certainly protect itself from lies, liars, and obfuscators, human beings certainly are vulnerable to such ‘endarkenment.’ It therefore appeared to me, then, and more clearly … Continue reading ‘Opening to Truth: The Sower and the Seed’
‘From Darkness to Light’
Even light itself, released from the dawn of the universe, must travel for billions of years to reach us, to tell us its story of the beginnings of all things. Who are we to know this, yet we must try for it speaks to us of significance and proportion, of ambition and its … Continue reading ‘From Darkness to Light’
‘Making Straight the Ways of the Lord: the Path of Return’
What is this ‘straight path’ that Muslims pray to be led on many times daily? Is it the shortest distance between two points (leaving aside for the moment what these two points may be)? A straight line? Is it perhaps the abandonment of all in the pursuit of self-liberation? I remember once sitting during a … Continue reading ‘Making Straight the Ways of the Lord: the Path of Return’
‘Topographies 5: In Search of the Orient’
The Prophet, in a hadith is claimed to have instructed his followers to ‘Seek wisdom (or understanding) even as far as China.’ Although some dispute this saying and others attempt to rationalise it to say that he meant the actual country, Sufi thinking suggests that it is intended to show the distance one should be … Continue reading ‘Topographies 5: In Search of the Orient’
‘What Price Progress: Change and Stasis on the Path of Return’
All ‘progress’ is change, however not all change is progress. One – the latter – is inevitable, the other, not so. Sometimes today in the modern or post-modern world we tend to assume the first but overlook the second. In our headlong rush towards tomorrow it is entirely possible to lose today. It was not … Continue reading ‘What Price Progress: Change and Stasis on the Path of Return’
‘Topographies 4: Making Flesh the Soul’
For quite some time now I have been playing with a metaphor for outlining the journey of the soul through this world in my attempt to make sense of an inner vision (as in ‘way of seeing’) that may offer some light to others (as well as myself) in relation to what such a journey … Continue reading ‘Topographies 4: Making Flesh the Soul’
Tracks in a Pathless Land 