Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Question (1)


One dervish to another, What was your vision
of God's presence? I haven't seen anything,
but for the sake of conversation, I will tell you a story.

The presence is there in front of me.
A fire on the left, a lovely stream on the right.
One group walks toward the fire, into the fire.
Another toward the sweet flowing water.
No one knows which are blessed and which not.
Whoever walks into the fire appears suddenly
in the stream. A head goes underwater
and that head pokes out of the fire.

Most people guard against going into the fire
and so end up in it. Those who love the water
of pleasure and make it their devotion
are cheated with this reversal. The trickery goes further.
The voice of the fire tells the truth, saying
I am not fire. I am fountainhead.
Come into me and don't mind the sparks.

If you are a friend of the presence,
fire is your water.

2 comments:

who said...

I don't know if vision is the word, but it definitely comes closer than any other word I can think of right now.

regarding that subject for me it was too many miracles. Situations that forced a laugh out of me when I was prepared to die.

times when tears clouded my vision so much that days were darker than nights.

blurred to the point that I could not see. Deciding I had better not give another try as I backed up to sit and take a rest.

that is how I got to the other side. After trying every imagined way to cross the divide twice, it was me blindly stumbling backwards then falling because the rock it thought I could sit down on was not there.

at which point I frustrated enough to want an end, I could not stop myself from laughing as I realized I had accidentally criss crossed every imaginable way to get to the other side. Being blind deaf dumb and completely accidental is how I finally came to rest at the desired other end of the mirage of the bridge that crossed the great divide.

Unknown said...

Very BEautiFul!
May I share your words Dear One?