Tossing Pebbles in the Stream: 09/01/2005

Sufi Islamic Mystic

WISDOM FROM AGES PAST

I have recently been rereading some of the poetry of Jalal ud-Din Rumi, the Persian Islamic mystic. By coincidence, today is the anniversary of his birth in 1207. He was born in what is now Afghanistan and died in what is now Turkey both part of the Persian Empire at the time.

http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/sources/rumi_biography.html#Rumi_biography

Not long ago, I read his birthplace home is still in existence but in disrepair. It is sad it is not being preserved. In Turkey there is a great monument at the place of his death.

I have had a long interest in mysticism. It is the spiritual heart of all religion. Mystics of all faiths have more in common than mystics and non-mystics within a faith. it seems the mystical experience is a human experience transcending all faiths. One might even argue that it is what defines us a "human".

At a time, when there is so much negative thought and feeling toward Islam, we would do well to take some time to explore the Rumi's http://www.armory.com/~thrace/sufi/poems.html One I like in particular is on marriage,

This Marriage

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.

May it be sweet milk, this marriage, like wine and halvah.

May this marriage offer fruit and shade like the date palm.

May this marriage be full of laughter, our every day a day in paradise.

May this marriage be a sign of compassion, a seal of happiness here and hereafter.

May this marriage have a fair face and a good name, an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.

I am out of words to describe how spirit mingles in this marriage.

Kulliyat667-i-Sham 2

If you are curious as to what hal.vah is.

http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/halvah_sesame.htm

Reading Rumi, even in translation, can feed the soul and give one some appreciation of Islam and a kind of spiritualism which transcends all faiths.

Salam.

A LEFT WING PROTESTER IN LEBANON:))))

Far Away Places

Quite often I search out remote places around the world where people live. Many of them are in the southern hemisphere such as St Helena, http://www.sthelena.se , Pitcairn Island, http://www.lareau.org/pitc.html , and the Falklands, http://www.falklandislands.com/ , to name just three of the more interesting. Many such places are remnants of the British Empire. It is interesting to peek in on these places with their unique histories, where people have worked out a way of life far from the great urban centers of the world. There are many others around the world. It is reassuring to know there are such places where people live and enjoy simpler lives.

Most recently I have explored the Shetland Islands. You can tour them by road on line http://www.sumburgh.shetland.co.uk/shetland/south/burra/burra_map.html. The one which fascinated me the most was the rather remote Fair Island http://www.fairisle.org.uk/index.htm
This little corner of Scotland has much to recommend it. It developed the first wind generating utility in Europe. Besides modest crofts where sheep are kept and grass crops are raised there are several interesting crafts done here: sweaters, boats, chairs and stained glass. The Island is actually a conservation area of great interest to birders.

As one who lives surrounded by trees and lush flora I find the landscape of the Shetlands starkly beautiful.

I noticed on the web site there are a couple of crofter cottages for rent. What a wonderful place to go for a visit for 6 months or a year!! They are currently looking for knitters to move there and help produce Fair Island Sweaters. How are your knitting skills!

It is fun to just dream of far off places. . . . .

This is my stream beside which I sit and contemplate life as it passes, occasionally tossing a pebble in the stream. While the stream passes with its own schedule, my occasional pebble causes a ripple adding to the flow but also affecting the present and past as well. This then is the theme of my blog. My thoughts and images will be tossed out from time to time affecting life as it passes.

I reality this is a quiet spot on the Temagami River where we have build a log camp in a grove of elm trees. It is an old crossing of the river between two farms. There used to be a house and a barn on opposite shore and another on the near shore not far from this spot. They are gone now and life has moved on.

There was a time when this idyllic spot on the river was more tortured. Here is what it looked like in 1922 when logs were floated down the river and the trees were cut to the waters edge.

Progress!

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream

Friday, September 30, 2005

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

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