Holy City
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He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open.
Rabindranath Tagore
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A Hopi elder speaks:
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.
And there are things to be considered.
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the
leader.
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said,
This could be a good time!
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Wisdom of the elders
There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and
swift, that there are those who will be afraid. They will try
to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn
apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle
of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least
of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual
growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your
vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred
manner and in celebration.
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We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation
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You don’t grasp the fact that what is most alive of all is inside your own house and so you walk from one holy city to the next with a confused look!
Kabir
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If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?
Rumi
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To truly know the world, look deeply within your own being;
to truly know yourself, take real interest in the world.
Rudolf Steiner
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But where is this gathering?
I don't know, my little angel
But do the others know?
No, they don't know either
How can you go to a gathering
Without knowing where it is?
It suffices to walk, just walk.
Those who are invited will find the way
Baba Aziz
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I felt in need of a great pilgrimage so I sat still for three days.
And God came to me.
Hafiz
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Be Beautiful
We are beautiful, so make yourself beautiful.
Be like us, don’t be like all the others.
and if you wish to be a mine of jewels,
open the deep ocean within your heart.
Rumi
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The body is God's gift to us,
full of wondrous mysteries- the transformation of food into blood,
the ability to heal itself,
the realisation of the Self.
Amma
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Wherever you are,
Be the soul of that place
Rumi
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This magnificent refuge is inside you.
Enter. Shatter the darkness that shrouds the doorway…
Be bold. Be humble.
Put away the incense and forget
the incantations they taught you.
Ask no permission from the authorities.
Close your eyes and follow your breath
to the still place that leads to the
invisible path that leads you home.
St. Theresa of Avila
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What matters is how quickly you do what your soul wants.
Rumi
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Explaining many profound dharmas is easy;
living them yourself is hard.
Adept Godrakpa
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Don’t you know yet?
It is your Light that lights the world.
Rumi
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Stay together friends.
Don’t scatter and sleep.
Our friendship is made
Of being awake.
The waterwheel accepts water
And turns and gives it away , weeping.
That way it stays in the garden,
Whereas another roundness
Rolls through a dry riverbed looking
For what it thinks it wants.
Stay here, quivering with each moment
Like drop of mercury.
Rumi
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Good and bad are mixed.
If you don't have both,
you don't belong with us.
Rumi
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There are guides
Who can show you the way
Use them
But they will not satisfy your longing
Keep wanting the connection with presence
With all your pulsing energy
The throbbing vein
Will take you further
Than any thinking
Mohammed said: Do not theorize
About essence. All speculations
Are just more layers of covering
Human beings love coverings
They think the design on the curtains
Are what is being concealed
Observe the wonders as they occur around you
Do not claim them. Feel the artistry
Moving through and be silent.
Rumi
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Rabya
Was seen in the market with a flaming torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other.
Everyone thought her to be mad.
When asked she said:
I want to drown your hell and put your heaven on fire.
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Why are you so enchanted by this world, when a mine of gold lies within you?
Rumi
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If you dwell with the unaware, you become cold
But if you dwell with the aware, you become a human.
Make a sanctuary inside a furnace, as true gold does,
Knowing that if you leave , you will freeze
Rumi
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Oh you who study the world, you’re just a hired worker.
And you who want paradise, you’re far from the truth.
And you who are happy with the two worlds, but unaware,
Because you have not experienced the happiness of his Sorrow
You’re simply excused.
Rumi
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Any life lived apart from spiritual companions
Is lifelessness and sleep for your essence.
“Water” that makes you murky is poison,
But “poison” that makes you clear is pure water.
Rumi
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The earth is perfumed with scented waters
And strewn with flowers
Adorned with Mt Meru
And the four continents
The sun and the moon
Imagine this as the Buddha realm
I offer it
So that all beings enjoy this pure realm.
A King of Tibet who was a disciple of Padma Sambhava
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All appearance is sheer art
Beautiful beyond all enduring
Appealing beyond all possibility of possession
It cannot be possessed
But it is entirely accessible
The treasure which our being preserves for us
Is like an ever-present nectar
It is like an inexhaustible kingdom
Which is always open to us.
Thartan tulku
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