The Sun Must Come

By Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi

Since Love has made ruins of my heart
The sun must come and illumine them.
Such generosity has broken me with shame:
The King prayed for me, and granted me His prayer:
How many times, just to calm me, did He show His face?
I said, "I saw His Face," but it was only a veil.
He charred a universe through the flaming-out of this veil.
O my God! How could such a King ever be unveiled?
Love reared in front of me, and I followed Him.
He turned and seized me like an eagle --
What a blessing it was to be His prey!
I plunged into a sea of ecstasy, and fled all pain.
If anguish is not delicious meat for you,
It is because you have never tasted this wine.
The Prophets accept all agony and trust it
For the water has never feared the fire.

Defects and Love

By François Fénelon

 "Do not be concerned about your defects. Love without ceasing, and you shall be much forgiven, because you have loved much (Luke 7:47). We are apt to seek the delights and selfish supports of love, rather than love itself. We deceive ourselves, even in supposing we are endeavouring to love, when we are only trying to see that we love. We are more occupied with the love, says St. Francis of Sales, than with the Well-beloved. If He were our only object, we should be all taken up with Him; but when we are employed in obtaining an assurance of his love, we are still in a measure busy with self. Our defects, regarded in peace and in the spirit of love, are instantly consumed by love itself; but considered in the light of self, they make us restless, and interrupt the presence of God and the exercise of perfect love. The chagrin we feel at our own defects, is ordinarily a greater fault than the original defect itself. You are wholly taken up with the less of the two faults, like a person whom I have just seen, who, after reading the life of one of the saints, was so enraged at his own comparative imperfection, that he entirely abandoned the idea of living a devoted life."

To Enter The Door - 4

To Enter The Door -1, 2, 3
Some well-known Sufi verses on my favourite theme.

Salih, Sufi Saint of Qazwin
"When you come upon the door and see it locked, 
start knocking on it, and the door will open."

Hazrat Rabiya Adawi of Basra
"O Salih, what are you talking about?
When was the door ever locked?
It was open all along."

Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi
"I have lived on the lip of insanity,
wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door.
It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside!"

"Sometimes you hear a voice through the door
calling you, as fish out of water
hear the waves, or a hunting falcon
hears the drum's Come back. Come back.
This turning toward what you deeply love
saves you. Read the book of your life,
which has been given you.
A voice comes to your soul saying,
Lift your foot. Cross over.
Move into emptiness of question
and answer the question."

Traditional Sufi Teaching
Someone knocked on the door.
'Who is it?', asked a voice from inside.
'It is me, O Lord, please let me in', said the seeker.
'No, there is only room for one in here, go away',
replied the voice from inside.
Again there was knocking on the door,
'Who is it?', asked the voice from inside once again.
'It is You', said the seeker.
The door opened and the seeker could enter this time.

Prayer to Joy

By Rabindranath Tagore

We tend to divide joy from work. Our day of work is not our day of joy - for that we require a holiday; for, miserable that we are, we cannot find our holiday in our work. The river finds its holiday in its onward flow, the fire in its outburst of flame, the scent of the flower in its permeation of the atmosphere; but in our everyday work there is no such holiday for us. It is because we do not let ourselves go, because we do not give ourselves joyously and entirely up to it, that our work overpowers us.
O Giver of Thyself! At the vision of thee as joy let our souls flame up to thee as the fire, flow on to thee as the river, permeate thy being as the fragrance of the flower. Give us strength to love, to love fully, our life in its joys and sorrows, in its gains and losses, in its rise and fall. Let us have strength enough fully to see and hear thy universe and to work with full vigour therein. Let us fully live the life thou hast given us, let us bravely take and bravely give. This is our prayer to thee. Let us once for all dislodge from our minds the feeble fancy that would make out thy joy to be a thing apart from action, thin, formless, and unsustained. Wherever the peasant tills the hard earth, there does thy joy gush out in the green of the corn, wherever man… smoothes the stony ground and clears for himself a homestead, there does thy joy enfold it in orderliness and peace.

Recognition - Pratyabhijna

One of philosophical systems of Kashmir Shaivism is Pratyabhijna which literally means to recognize one's own self once again. Etymologically, Pratyabhijna is formed from prati (something once known, now appearing as forgotten), abhi (immediate) and jna (to know). So, the meaning is direct knowledge of one's self, recognition. It represents a mental act by which one realizes and re-unites with the original state i.e. universal consciousness. According to this philosophy, the individual self (atman) is identical with the Supreme Lord but due to the influence of maya (ignorance), it forgets its divine nature, becomes liable to limitation and bondage, and thinks itself to be different from the Supreme Lord. The central thesis is that everything is Shiva, absolute consciousness, and it is possible to re-cognize our essential nature of Shivahood. In this system, the Ultimate Reality voluntarily descends to the level of the Jiva or empirical individual who, in turn, becomes duty bound to ascend and recognize himself as Shiva. Thus, the slave (pashu - the human condition) becomes the master (pati - the divine condition). He is jeevan mukhta. He experiences Shivahood right in the world as a living and existing individual. One of the central texts on this theme - Pratyabhijna Hrdayam - says what you are, what you have forgotten, and how to remember.
Pratybhijjna is to cognise oneself as Shiva as that is the stuff of one's being. Though, I think that any practice can't yield this result without its blessing. After all, only He cognises his original reality. And the Self in us (being a spark of the divine) is the pivot of our life. As Lalleshwari‎ wrote:

‏Don‪'‬t speak of Hindu or Musulman

‏If you are wise‪,‬ know yourself

‏That is the recognition of the true Friend ‪.‬

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

Pratyabhijna Hrdayam

It is a key text of Kashmir Shaivism called Pratyabhijna Hrdayam ("The Heart of Recognition"), written by the sage Kshemaraja in the eleventh century. The sutras move from a description of the all-encompassing truth of reality, through an explanation of why we suffer and how to be free.

1 Chiti hi svatantra visva siddhi hethuhu
The independent (svatantrā) Śakti or Supreme Power (citiḥ) (is) the cause (hetuḥ) of manifestation, maintenance and dissolution (siddhi)1 of the universe (viśva)
2 Sva icchaya sva bhittau visvam unmilay-ati
Through Her own (sva) Will (Power) - icchā, She unfolds (unmīlayati) the universe (viśvam) on Her own (sva) Canvas
3 Tan nana anu-rupa grah-ya grah-aka bhedat
That, i.e. "the universe", is multiple (nānā) because of the differentiation (bhedāt) of (reciprocally) adapted (anurūpa) objects or knowables (grāhya) (and) experients or subjects (grāhaka)
4 Chiti sankoch-atma chetano'pi sankuch-ita visva-maya-ha
The individual experient (cetanaḥ), in whom there is contraction (saṅkoca-ātmā) of Citi (citi), also (api) has the universe as his body (viśva-mayaḥ), but in a contracted way (saṅkucita)
5 Chitireva chetana pada-davarudha chetya  sankoch-ini chittam
It is Citi (citiḥ) alone (eva) (who), by descending (avarūḍhā) from the stage (padāt) of pure Consciousness (cetana), contracts Herself (saṅkocinī) (assuming the form of) the object or knowable (cetya); (and it is also Citi who) becomes the mind (cittam).
6 Tan mayo maya pramata
The limited experient (pramātā) ruled by Māyā consists of that , i.e. "of citta or mind".
7 Sa cha eko dvi rupas tri mayas chatur atma sapta panch-aka sva-bhavaha
Also being one, that takes the form of duality, the three delusions (states of being awake, dreaming, and deep-sleep), four selves, and seven fives, the five senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell),  the five organs of action (hands, feet, tongue, excretory and sexual organs), the fivefold action (see below),
the five pranas or energy-flows: breath-flow/respiration, downward-flow/excretion, distributive-flow/ igestion+assimilation, diffuse-flow/holding-together, ascending-flow/sexual energy;
the five coverings of the self: the physical covering: the body, the vital covering: the pranas and action, the mental covering: the mind and senses, the covering of intellect: faculties of insight and decision and the sense of doership;
the covering of bliss: enjoyment, happiness, deep sleep;
the five powers of the self: those of self-awareness, bliss, will or desire, knowledge, and action or creation;
the five elements (states of matter): earth(solid), water (liquid), air (gas), fire(plasma) and ether.
8 Tad bhumikaha sarva darsana sthitaayaha
 The positions (sthitayaḥ)1 of all (sarva) philosophical systems (darśana) (are only various) roles (bhūmikāḥ) (played) by that (Self or Consciousness).
9 Chid-vat tachchakti sankochat mala-vritaha samsari
That, i.e. "the Self", who is full of Consciousness (cit-vat), (becomes) the transmigratory soul (saṁsārī) covered (avṛtaḥ) by Mala due to (His) contraction (saṅkocāt) of Śakti or Power.
10 Tatha-api tad-vat pancha krityani karoti
Even so, one does the five actions, like that does (namely: creation, sustenance, destruction, concealment, and grace).
11 Abhasana rakti vimarsana  bija-vasthapana vilapana-tastani
Another interpretation (of the five actions) is manifestation, relishing, experiencing as self, settling of the seed, and dissolution.
12 Tada-pari-jnane sva-sakti-bhir vya-mohitata samsari-tvam
To fail to know that these are one's own powers is to be a self-deluded, suffering human.
13 Tat pari jnane chittam eva antar mukhi bhavena chetana para-dhyarohat chiti-hi
When consciousness itself fully knows that by means of an inward facing attitude, fully concentrated consciousness becomes nothing but pure Consciousness.
14 Chiti-van-hi ravaroha-pada icchanno'pi matraya meyendhanam plushyati.
The fire of consciousness burns up the forms covering the lower states by its mere will.
15 Bala -labhe visvam atma-sat karoti
Attaining this power, the truth that the world is the Self is done [known].
16 Chid-ananda labhe deha-adi-shu mana-esh-va-api
cha-aik-atmya prati-patti dardhyam jiv-an mukti-hi
Attaining the bliss of consciousness, the mind, even in the body or anything, has mastery: each experience is one with the self; this, stably, is nothing but liberation during life.
17 madhya vikasat chid-ananda labhaha
Through the unfoldment or development (vikāsāt) of the middle (state) (madhya), (there is) acquisition (lābhaḥ) of the Bliss (ānanda) of Absolute Consciousness (cit).
18 vikalpa kshaya sakti sankocha vikasa 
vaha-cche-dady-anta koti nibhalanadaya iha-upaya-ha
The means are dissolution of thoughts, retention of energies, stillness (of breath-energies), fixing the intention of breathing at the end-space twelve fingers out.
19 Samadhi samskarava-ti vyutthane bhuyo bhuyas
chid-aik-ya-marsan-nitya-udita samadhi labhaha
Repeatedly examining the oneness of consciousness while filled with the after-effects of samadhi, samadhi is attained.
20 Tada prakasha -ananda saara maha mantra virya-atma-ka
purna-aham-ta vesat sada sarva sarga samhara  
kari nija sam-vid devata chakra-isvara-ata 
praptir-bhav-atiti Sivam
Then (tadā), as a result of entering (veśāt) in the Perfect (pūrṇa) I-consciousness (ahantā), which is essentially (sāra) Light (prakāśa) (and) Bliss (ānanda), (and whose) nature (ātmaka) (consists of) the power (vīrya) of the Great (mahā) Mantra, there is (bhavati) always (sadā) acquisition or obtainment (prāptiḥ) of sovereignty or supremacy (īśvaratā) over the group (cakra) of deities (devatā) of one's own (nija) Consciousness (saṁvid), which brings about (kāri) all (sarva) manifestations (sarga) (and) dissolutions (saṁhāra) (of the universe). Thus, all is of the nature of Shiva.

by Kshemaraja, student of Abhinavagupta

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

Desert Fathers

The Desert Fathers (abba) and Mothers (amma) were Christian hermits, ascetics, and monks who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt beginning around the third century AD.

Abba Zeno said, "If you want God to hear your prayer quickly, then before you pray for anything else, even your own soul, when you stand and stretch out your hands towards God, you must pray with all your heart for your enemies. Through this action God will hear everything that you ask."

A hermit said, "Take care to be silent. Empty your mind. Attend to your meditation in the fear of God, whether you are resting or at work. If you do this, you will not fear the attacks of the demons."

Abba Moses, "Sit in thy cell and thy cell will teach thee all."

Abba Agathon said, "A man who is angry, even if he were to raise the dead, is not acceptable to God."

Somebody asked Anthony, 'What shall I do in order to please God?' He replied, 'Do what I tell you, which is this: wherever you go, keep God in mind; whatever you do, follow the example of Holy Scripture; wherever you are, stay there and do not move away in a hurry. If you keep to these guide-lines, you will be saved.'"

Abbot Pastor, "If someone does evil to you, you should do good to him, so that by your good work you may drive out his malice."

Abba Isidore said, "If you fast regularly, do not be inflated with  pride, but if you think highly of yourself because of it, then you had better eat meat. It is better for a man to eat meat than to be inflated with pride and to glorify himself."

Dorotheos of Gaza: "It is no great thing not to judge, and to be sympathetic to someone who is in trouble and falls down before you, but it is a great thing not to judge or to strike back when someone, on account of his own passions, speaks against you. Likewise, it is a great thing not to disagree when someone else is honored more than you are."

A brother came to see Abba Poemen and said to him, "Abba, I have many  thoughts and they put me in danger." The old man led him outside and said to him, "Expand your chest and do not breathe in." He said, "I cannot do that." Then the old man said to him, "If you cannot do that, no more can you prevent thoughts from arising, but you can resist them."

It happened that as Abba Arsenius was sitting in his cell that he was harassed by demons. His servants, on their return, stood outside his cell and heard him praying to God in these words, "O God, do not leave me. I have done nothing good in your sight, but according to your goodness, let me now make a beginning of good.'"

The Cloud of Unknowing

Written by an Anonymous English monk during the late fourteenth century. The book counsels a student to seek God not through knowledge, but through intense contemplation, motivated by love, what involves spiritual union with God through the heart.

"[In the work of contemplation] take care that nothing is active in your mind or in your will but only God. Try to strike down all your knowing and feeling of everything less than God, and tread everything down far beneath the cloud of forgetting. Then you will understand that in this work you are not only to forget all creatures besides yourself, along with their deeds (and your own deeds as well); but in this work you are also to forget both yourself and even the things you have done for the sake of God. For it is the way of those who have perfect love that they not only love the things they love more than they love themselves, but also, in some sense, that they hate themselves for the sake of what they love.

This is what you are to do with yourself. You shall loathe and be impatient with everything that is active in your mind and in your will unless it is God. Anything else, whatever it may be, will come between you and your God. It is no wonder, then, that you should loathe and hate to think of yourself, for you always feel sin as a foul stinking lump of some kind, intruding between you and your God. And this lump is nothing else than yourself. For you must realise that sin is identified with yourself: it is inseparable from you..

Destroy therefore all your knowing and feeling of every kind of creature, and especially of yourself. Your thinking and feeling of all other creatures depends on your awareness of yourself, for when you have overcome that, all other creatures can easily be forgotten. If you will take the trouble to test it, you will find that when all other things and activities have been forgotten (even your own) there still remains between you and God the stark awareness of your own existence. And this awareness, too, must go, before you experience contemplation in its perfection."

Eight Bhairavas Ashtakam

Om Hram Kala Bhairavaya Namah

This ashtakam is dedicated to Eight Bhairavas, described in this post.  The first verse addresses Bhairava in his principal form of Kshethrapala (guardian of the Kasi Viswanath Temple) and then to eight different forms.

Kshethra Pala Bhairava - Guard of Earth 
Raktha jwalaa Jada dharam, sasi dharan,
Rakthanga thejo mayam,
Dakka Shoola kapala pasa gadha dharam Bhairavam,
Nirvanam Gathavahanam Trinayanamcha Ananda kolahalam,
Vande bhootha pisacha natha vadukam
Kshethrasya palam Shubham. 1
I salute the leader of ghosts and Ghouls, Lord Bhairava, Who wears the red flame as his matted hair,
Who wears the moon, who shines in red colour, Who holds a drum, spear, skull, rope and mace in his hands, Who is nude, who rides on a dog, Who has three eyes, Who is always happy and exuberant and is the guard of the temple.

Asithanga Bhairava - Dark Bodied
Trinethram, varadam shantham, munda mala bhooshitham,
Swetha varnam, krupa murthim, Bhairavam Kundalojjwalam,
Gada kapala samyuktham, kumarsya digambaram,
Banam pathrancha sankham cha Aksha maalaam kundalam,
Naga Yagnopaveetham cha dharinam suvibhooshitham,
Brahmani shakthi sahitham, hamsaroodam suroopinam,
SArvabheeshta dharam nithyam asithangam Bhajamyaham. 2
I pray the dark Bhairava who fulfills all desires, Who is forever, who has three eyes, who blesses and is peaceful, Who wears a skull garland, Who is white, Who is the Lord of mercy, Who shines in his ear globes, who holds mace and the skull, Who is young and nude, who holds arrow, vessel, conch, bead chain and ear globes, Who wears snake as sacred thread, Who is well ornamented, Who is with Goddess Brahmani, rides on a swan and is good to look at.

Krodha Bhairava - Angry 
Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha digambaram,
Gadam shankam cha Chakrancha pada pathrancha dharinam,
Lakshmyacha sahitham vame garudasana susthitham,
Neela varnam maha devam Vande Sri Kroda Bhairavam. 3
I salute the angry Bhairava, who is blue and a great God,
Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude,
Who is armed with mace, conch, wheel, rope and a vessel,
Who is near Goddess Lakshmi riding on Garuda the eagle.

Unmatha Bhairava - Frantic
Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha digambaram,
Hema Varnam, maha devam, hastha vahana susthitham,
Gadgam, kapalam, musalam, dathantham, kedagam thadha,
Varahi shakthi sahitham Vande Unmatha Bhairavam. 4
I salute that Frantic Bhairava who is power called Varahi,
Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude,
Who is of golden colour, great God and rides on a swan,
And who holds sword, skull, Pestle and also the shield.

Ruru Bhairava - Teacher
Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha digambaram,
Dangam krisna mrugam pathram bibranam chakru panakam,
Maheswaryayudham devam vrusharoodam smitha vahanam,
Shudha sphatikam sankaram, namami Ruru Bhairavam. 5
I salute the Bhairava with the deer, who is like pure crystal and a destroyer, Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude, Who holds a hatchet, deer, drinking goblet and a sword in his hands, Who has the armed Maheswari by his side and who is smiling and rides on a bull.

Kapala Bhairava - Skull 
Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha digambaram,
Pasam, Vajram, thadha Gadgam pana pathranch dharinam,
Indrani shakthi sahitham Gaja vahana susthitham,
Kapala Bhairavam Vande padma ragha prabham Shubham. 6
I salute the Bhairava of the skull, who has a shining body, Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude, Who holds rope, Vajrayudha, Sword and Drinking Goblet, Who has with him Indrani Shakthi, is being well praised and rides on an elephant.

Chanda Bhairava - Fierce
Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha digambaram,
Dhanur banancha bhibranam, Gadgam Pathram Thadaiva cha,
Koumari shakthi sahitham, Shikihi vahana sthitham,
Gowri varnayudham Devam Vande Sri Chanda Bhairavam. 7
I salute the Chanda Bhairava who is pure white in colour,
Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude,
Who holds rope, Vajrayudha, Sword and Drinking Goblet,
Who has with him Kaumari Shakthi and rides on a peacock.

Bheeshana Bhairava - Terriffic
Trinethram, varadam, santham, kumarancha digambaram,
Gadgam soolam Kapalancha darinam musalam thadha,
Chamunda shakthi sahitham pretha vahana susthitham,
Raktha varnam maha devam Vabde Bheeshana Bhairavam. 8
I salute the Terriffic Bhairava who is a great God of blood red colour, Who has three eyes, blesses, peaceful, young and nude, Who holds sword, trident, skull and pestle in his hand, Who has with him Chamunda Shakti and rides on a corpse.

Samhara Bhairavam - Annihilator
Dasa bhahum trinethram cha sarpa yagnopaveethinm,
Damishtra karala vadanam ashtaiswarya pradhayakam,
Digambaram kumarancha simha vahana samsthitham,
Soolam damarugam shankam, gadam chakrancha darinam,
Gadgam pathram cha Gadwangam pasa mangusa meva cha,
Ugra roopam madonmathamam bada vaalai,
Chandika shakthi sahitham dyayeth samhara Bhairavam. 9
I meditate on Bhairava the destroyer, who is with Chandika Shakti, Who has ten hands, three eyes and snake as sacred thread, Who has protruding teeth, fearful look and grants eight type of wealth, Who is nude, a youth and rides on a lion, Who holds trident, drum, conch, mace and wheel in his hands, Who holds sword, vessel, Gadwangam, rope and goad, and who has fearful looks, wears skull garland and greatly exuberant.

Translated by P. R. Ramachander

Om Hram Kala Bhairavaya Namah