a sharing from a great poet, from the Sufi tradition of Islam

here is something different from me, a meditation I am using a lot these days, hope it speaks to you, too

A Garden beyond Paradise

Everything you see has its roots in the Unseen world.

The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same.

Every wondrous sight will vanish.

Every sweet word will fade.

But do not be disheartened,

The Source they come from is eternal—

Growing, branching out, giving new life and new joy.

Why do you weep?—

That Source is within you,

And this whole world is springing up from it.

The Source is full,

Its waters are ever flowing,

Do not grieve, drink your fill!

Don’t think it will ever run dry—

This is the endless Ocean!

From the moment you came into this world

A ladder was placed in front of you 

that you might escape.

From earth you became plant.

From plant you became animal.

Afterwards you became a human being,

Endowed with knowledge, intellect, and faith.

Behold the body, born of dust—

how perfect it has become!

Why should you fear its end?

When were you ever made less by dying?

When you pass beyond this human form, 

No doubt you will become an angel

And soar through the heavens!

But don’t stop there, even heavenly bodies become old.

Pass again from the heavenly realm

and plunge into the vast ocean of Consciousness.

Let the drop of water that is you 

become a hundred mighty seas.

But do not think that the drop alone

Becomes the Ocean—

the Ocean, too, becomes the drop! 

by Jalaluddin Rumi

quoted in God Makes the Rivers To Flow: An Anthology of the World's Sacred Poetry and Prose, by Eknath Easwaran, pp.246-247, available through Amazon