I AM IN LOVE WITH HAFIZ!

I have fallen in love with an amazing being. His has wooed me with his tenderness, his overflowing love, his poetry of pure joy. He is a man I could live with through all eternity, beyond time and place. He refers to himself as Hafiz (memorizer), but his full name is Shams-ud-din Muhammed, born in the city of Shiraz in Persia in about 1320. I won't give you the details of his life; I’d rather share one of his poems. I warn you though: when you read it you may also fall in love. That would mean I have to share Hafiz. I will do so joyously, for I am not the first or last to love Hafiz. As for Hafiz, he can handle all this love. He thrives on it; he is in ecstasy for the opportunity to share. He sees everything through the lens of love. This Sufi Master, he can teach us so much.

From: I Heard God Laughing/Renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

IF IT IS NOT TOO DARK

Go for a walk, if it is not too dark.
Get some fresh air, try to smile.
Say something kind
To a safe-looking stranger, if one happens by.

Always exercise your heart's knowing.

You might as well attempt something real
Along the Path:

Take your spouse or lover in your arms
They way you did when you first met.
Let tenderness pour from your eyes
The way the Sun gazes warmly on the earth.

Play a game with some children.
Extend yourself to a friend.
Sing a few ribald songs to your pets and plants-
Why not let them get drunk and wild?

Go for a walk, if it is not too dark.
Get some fresh air, try to smile.
Say something kind
To a safe-looking stranger, if one happens by.

Always exercise your heart's knowing.

You might as well attempt something real
Along the Path:

Take your spouse or lover in your arms
The way you did when you first met.
Let tenderness pour from your eyes
The way the Sun gazes warmly on the earth.

Play a game with some children.
Extend yourself to a friend.
Sing a few ribald songs to your pets and plants-
Why not let them get drunk and wild?

Let's toast
Every rung we've climbed on Evolution's ladder.
Whisper, “I love you! I love you!
To the whole mad world.

Let's stop reading about God_
We will never understand Him>

Jump to your feet, wave your fists.
Threaten and warn the whole Universe

That your heart can no longer live
Without real love!