Kurban's Stuff

Controlling Life!

2009-04-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

"You can no more control life than a raft on white water can control the river. You can learn to work with the river--to dance with life--but you cannot control it.....

......Real control is not about controlling---it is about going with what is there. As you learn from martial arts, the secret is not to try to control others by brute force, but to use the energy that is there to your advantage.

Those who thrive no longer push and pull at life in some tug of war. People who are living their lives fully have gone beyond spending whatever energy they have insisting that the world operate on their terms--the weather, the traffic, their children, their job. Life is, indeed, what happens when you've made other plans."

-----Quoted from a book by Henry C. Simmons, Ph. D. and E Craig MacBean: "Thriving After 55. Your Guide to Fully Living the Rest of Your Life" page 198. Copyright 2000. Published by PrimeDynamics, LLC, Richmond, VA 23228. ISBN: 0-9668813-1-1.

"......the Shaker song:"

2009-04-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

'It's a gift to be simple,
It's a gift to be free,
It's a gift to come down where we ought to be [...]
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.'

Quoted from a book by Henry C. Simmons, Ph. D. and E Craig MacBean: "Thriving After 55. Your Guide to Fully Living the Rest of Your Life" page 198. Copyright 2000. Published by PrimeDynamics, LLC, Richmond, VA 23228. ISBN: 0-9668813-1-1.

Zen Master Wu-men: "Ten thousand flowers......"

2009-04-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

"Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
A cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind is not clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life."

-----Wu-men, ancient Zen Master

Quoted from a book by Henry C. Simmons, Ph. D. and E Craig MacBean: "Thriving After 55. Your Guide to Fully Living the Rest of Your Life" page 198. Copyright 2000. Published by PrimeDynamics, LLC, Richmond, VA 23228. ISBN: 0-9668813-1-1.

"We are all neck-deep in grace....."

2009-04-17T02:25:00.000-07:00

"We are all neck-deep in grace. Whoever we are, we are held by the warmth of the sun and the shining embrace of the snow, nourished by the sweet waters of the rain, alive in the great mystery. Whatever our circumstances, we have the perfect capacity to awaken. With an open heart and open mind we discover a great stillness, a loving presence with things as they are. Resting in a simple awareness of the present, the heart becomes trustworthy. As we accept the stream of life, enlightenment and grace arise naturally. This is not attainment, but living wisdom."

- Once again, the above is quoted from a book I read a few years ago. I wrote down the quote but did not record the Title and Author of the book.

The end of all our exploring.....

2009-02-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

"The end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time"

-------T.S. Eliot

(The above is quoted from some book I read a few years ago. I wrote down the quote but did not record the Title and Author of the book).

The Clay Jug

2009-02-12T06:03:00.000-08:00

"Inside this clay jug there are canyons and pine mountains,
and the maker of canyons and pine mountains!

All seven oceans are inside,
and hundreds of millions of stars.

The acid that tests gold is there,
and the one who judges jewels.

And the music from the string no one touches,
and the source of all water.

If you want the truth,
I will tell you the truth:

Friend, listen: the God whom I love is inside."

-----------------Kabir

Quote from "The Soul is here for it's own joy. Sacred poems from many cultures." Edited by Robert Bly. The Eco Press, Hopewell, NJ 08525. 1995. ISBN 0-88001-355-9.

Walt Whitman's wise words.

2009-02-11T02:54:00.000-08:00

"This is what you should do: Love the earth and sun and animals,
despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
stand up for the stupide and crazy,
devote your income and labour to others, hate tyrants,............
have patience and indulgence toward the people,...........
reexamine all you have been told in school or church or in any book,
dismiss what insults your very soul,
and your flesh shall become a great poem"

----------Walt Whitman

(This is a beautiful quote.....I wish I had recorded it's source.....it's from one of the books I read in April 2003. I have not posted the full quote here.)

Difficulties

2009-01-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

Friends, please tell me what I can
do about this mud world
I keep spinning out of myself!

I gave up expensive clothes,
and bought a robe,
But I noticed one day that the cloth
was well-woven.

So I bought some burlap, but I still
Throw it elegantly over my left shoulder.

I stopped being a sexual elephant,
And now I discover that I'm
angry a lot.

I finally gave up anger,
and now I notice
I am greedy all day.

I worked hard at dissolving greed,
and now I am proud of myself.

When the mind wants to break it's link
with the world
It still holds on to one thing.

Kabir says: Listen, my friend,
There are very few that find the path!

------Kabir

Quoted form a Book, edited by Robert Bly: "The Soul is here for it's own joy. Sacred poems from many cultures." The Ecco Press, Hopewell, N.J. 1995. ISBN 0-88001-355-9

Who makes these changes?

2009-01-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

Who makes these changes?
I shoot an arrow right
It lands left.
I ride after a deer and find myself
chased by a hog.
I plot to get what I want
and end up in prison.
I dig pits to trap others
and fall in.

I should be suspicious of what I want.

-------Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

Quoted from a book Edited by Robert Bly: "The soul is here for it's own joy. Sacred poems from many cultures." The Ecco Press, Hopewell, N.J. 08525. 1995. ISBN 0-88001-355-9.

"I" and "you"

2009-01-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

"I" and "you" focus light
like decorative holes cut
in a landscape.
But there is only One Light.

"I" and "you" throw a
thin veil between
heaven and earth.
Lift the veil and all
creeds and theologies disappear.

When "I" and "you" vanish,
how can I tell whether I am
in a mosue, a synagogue
a church, or an observatory?

------Shabistary

Quoted from a book by Neil Dougls-Klotz: "The Sufi Book of Life. 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish". Published by Penguin Group, New York. 2005. ISBN 014-21-9635-5.

2009-01-02T01:47:00.000-08:00

"It's the first breath of spring

But do I smell a garden

Or the aroma of two friends meeting?"

----by Saadi , a Sufi

Quoted from a book by Neil Dougls-Klotz: "The Sufi Book of Life. 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish". Published by Penguin Group, New York. 2005. ISBN 014-21-9635-5.

An inspiring poem

2008-12-12T15:20:00.000-08:00

I found this beautiful and inspiring poem on Joanna Macy's Website http://www.joannamacy.net/.

"Unconditional"

Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;
Turning to face my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within;
Opening to my loss,
I gain the embrace of the universe;
Surrendering into emptiness,
I find fullness without end.
Each condition I flee from pursues me,
Each condition I welcome transforms me
And becomes itself transformed
Into its radiant jewel-like essence.
I bow to the one who has made it so,
Who has crafted this Master Game.
To play it is purest delight;
To honor its form--true devotion.

- Jennifer Welwood"