Om Sri Ram

"You make the effort. The Masters only point the Way."

The Buddha, the Dhammapada

The Rishi-Sufi Tradition of Kashmir

From “The Guru of Rumi: The Teachings of Shams Tabrizi”

Rumi says: "Always prefer Cash over Credit."

To the Sufis, basking in the presence of God in the serenity of the present moment was more than enough reason to find joy in this existence, in the here and now, and more enriching than waiting for the rewards of a heavenly afterlife.

The Pain of the lover for the Beloved

I have inherited a pain from the Friend,

Which I will not exchange for a hundred thousand cures. - Rumi

The Teachings of Shams - The Guru of Rumi

Whichever state you are in, give away what you have;

and if you do not have things to give away, try to earn them.

Trapping the Thief

I locked the doors of my body, trapping the thief of life and held my breath.

Chaining him in my heart's dark cave, I stripped off his skin with the whip of Om.

Remembering the Beloved

Through remembering God, the seeker focuses on the life-giving traits to illuminate the consciousness.

The Inner Journey of Niruddin Rishi

The (nafs) or the lower self is the major actor in this struggle with the higher Self. He compares the higher Self to the fragrant wood from a sandalwood tree with healing properties and the lower self or the ego to the hard and unyielding wood of a arkhol tree, which is good for nothing.

Lalla to Nuruddin Part 1 - Remove the Rust from your Heart

Nuruddin says that a person to whom the divine knowledge is revealed, he continuously remembers God. He renounces love for the body and the ego and believes he is nobody has no name. The focus here is not on adopting divine attributes: it is rather on renouncing human traits, which opens the individual to the Divine attributes.

Lalla to Nuruddin Part 2 - The Inner War between Luminosity and Darkness

Nuruddin says: "God created man with the earthly nature and shaped him in the frame of clay. He created all things from clay" (v.48). Then, He breathed the divine spirit into him. The spirit thus possesses all the angelic attributes of luminosity, subtlety, and unity, whereas the body, made out of clay, is marked with denseness, darkness, and dispersion.

Rishi Tradition and Kashmiri Sufi Poetry

I said, “Reveal to me the mystery of love.” He said, “If I did, where would you keep it?”

I said. “What is outside and what is inside?” He said, “What is outside is inside.”

I, Lalla - Poems of Lal Ded - Part 1

The road I came by wasn't the road I took to go. As I stood on my mind's embankment, the day faded.

I looked in my purse and couldn't find Shiva's name to give the ferryman.

I, Lalla - Poems of Lal Ded - Part 2

Some run away from home, some escape the hermitage. No orchard bears fruit for the barren mind.

Day and night, count the rosary of your breath, and stay put wherever you are.

I, Lalla - Poems of Lal Ded - Part 3

You dance above the abyss. How do you manage it? You can't take these dishes with you when dinner's over.

Are you sure the buffet's tickling your palate?

Nuruddin Rishi Verses - Part 1 "Love"

When He appeared to his beloveds, a vision he sent to Mansur. He got him drunk on the wine of love and had him murdered like a thief. When Mansur was purified there with saffron and musk, his heart filled with joy at that door. He showed the path to lovers and saints - stories were left for the world.

Nuruddin Rishi Verses - Part 2 " Solitude"

In my youth, obsessed was I with the outer world. Enjoying myself, I acted as a hero. After chopping off the sandalwood tree, I watered the arkhol tree [a tree good for nothing!]. The devil pursued my lower self filled with desires. Many family members I raised, nobody remains with me. Having realized that - I controlled my ego.

Ancient Sufi Teachings by Idries Shah

"If you want to make an ordinary man happy, or think that he is happy, give him money, power, flattery, girls, honours. If you want to make a wise man happy - improve yourself”!“