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To support the development of this site and the work of soul friendship you are invited to express your appreciation through the spiritual practice of Dana
RadiantSpiritual Cinema
Consider an evening in watching this inspiring DVD and how the eternal message in Rumi's poetry continues the Flow of Divine Love in so many lives
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Mo Anam Cara –Jalâluddin RumiAt this time in this writer’s journey, one of my beloved of soul friends is the mystic poet Jalâluddin Rumi. When I crossed the threshold place that was my return to Ireland after thirty years, two people would be guides along the way. At the time I left, which was on the day after 9/11 I had no idea that I would have such illustrious companions – W.B. Yeats and Jalâluddin Rumi. Another soul friend introduced me to Rumi. She gave me a gift that I still have some eight years later. It is a print with a poem by Rumi, which quotes: The
being human is a guest house. Every
morning a new arrival. A
joy, a depression, a meanness, Some
momentary awareness comes As
an unexpected visitor. Welcome
and entertain them all Even
if they’re a crowd of sorrows Who
violently sweep your house Empty
of its furniture. Still
treat each guest honourably – He
may be clearing you out for some new delight. The
dark thought, the shame, the malice, Meet
them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each
has been sent As
a guide from beyond. Little did I know then that I would, metaphorically speaking, have my house cleaned out and that all sorts of shadows from the past would invade what I thought to be the bright house of my psyche. Rumi is the best selling poet in the USA. I love this fact because he is a mystic from the Islamic tradition. He is everything that the true Islam invites. Friends and family now bring me gifts of Rumi’s poetry, which I use to inspire this website and the ezine The Anamcara Experience. I use Rumi to inspire stories that I write and tell. One line from probably my favourite and most told tale is: “
Come out of the Circle of Time Into
the Circle of Love." This is the kind of invitation that Rumi’s poetry invites. Rumi’s poetry, says his translator Coleman Barks, “is a bridge between the mystery of being human and the mystery of the divine, his work builds an intricate, earthy and ethereal bridge of friendship, natural resonance, meditation and music.” The poems of Rumi are timeless because they come from the circle of Love and not the circle of time. It was Rumi’s 800th birthday in 2007 and still his invitation is as fresh as ever. Rumi really does live in the Land of the Forever Young – the Irish land of Tir na Nog. If you were to take a book of any of the leading spiritual development writers living today, including Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Robert Bly, Dr. Wayne Dyer to name just a few, you will have within their writing references to Rumi. A soul friend invites you to come out of the circle of time. Most of us are doing time in the rush to become someone. However, we are not, for the most part having the time of our lives. We are living but we are not living our bliss. All soul friends invite you into the direct knowing of your timeless nature. The Master Jesus called this eternal life. In Irish mythology it is the Land of the Forever Young- the land of Tir na Nog. To enter this placeless place is to come into the circle of Love. The circle of Love is a circle that has as its boundary the boundless. This is a paradox to be lived and not thought about. It is found through the instruction, “ Be still and know that I AM.” This is not found by thinking about because thought is always within time. As other mystics such as Jeddu Krishnamurti and Eckhart Tolle tell us, thought is a prison that keeps you locked into the prison of time. Another great soul friend, Joseph Campbell, was given a key into the circle of Love when he was given the question to contemplate: “Where are you between two thoughts?” This awareness of who you are between two thoughts is not just a blank mind. It is the doorway into the eternal circle of Love. This is why so many of Rumi’s poems end with the invitation to silence.
Be
silent now Say
fewer and fewer praise poems Let
yourself become living poetry This is the invitation from The Anamcara Experience. It is to become the living embodiment of the poetry that is intended to flow through you. This does not mean you become a poet except that when you become living poetry you are expressing, metaphorically expressing, in a poetic way. Become living poetry is to become practice in geancannach – love talking. It is to become silent and allow Love to move through you in the unique way. Love manifests through you. To become living poetry is to be willing to a guesthouse to whatever comes. It is to be willing to invite the will of the Divine to move through you. All the soul friends on this site invite you to be a guest in the house of the Beloved. There is hardly anyone who writes this invitation on the heart as well as Rumi. He does this through his most accomplished of scribes, Coleman Barks. I leave you with another Rumi invitation I
used to be shy. You made me sing. I
used to refuse things at table. Now
I shout for more wine. In
sombre dignity, I used to sit on
my mat and pray. Now
children run through and
make faces at me.
© Tony Cuckson 2009
Another Soul Friend "click on graphic below"
John O'Donohue is a man of the soul. His scholarly meditation on the continuing relevance of Ireland's spiritual heritage has become a publishing phenomenon.... This poetic meditation has become a best seller on both sides of the Atlantic...... A lyrical epic prayer The Times
From Review of Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom THE ANAMCARA INVITATION The invitation to Soul Friendship is always available. There is, however, a price to pay. You are invited to trade rags for riches. You are invited to give away doubts, fears, sorrows and other rags for the diamond that you already are. There is no greater invitation than to become an Anam Cara - a friend to your soul. To learn more about this radiant diamond within and how to awaken your beauty from its sleep of many years you are invited to subscribe to our FREE weekly Newsletter entitled The Anamcara Experience This Newsletter includes articles which invite all the experiences listed above. These articles include spiritual stories, articles about songs - modern and old, articles about the power of spiritual poetry and many other aspects of spiritual development and much more. As a thank you for being willing to accept this invitation you will receive a short but powerful FREE REPORT entitled "7 Ways to a Wonderful Life." Simply subscribe now without obligation and begin today the journey into a wonderful life of an Anam Cara - soul friend
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From
Birdsong- 53 short poems translated by Coleman Barks