A Journey Within

On the Wings of a Butterfly

From Yourself to ‘Your Self ’ journey, on the path of Love.

If on this road any markers you find my friend,

From yourself all markers sever. Then ‘markers’ you shall see.

The essence of all that exists is Love.

“The journey inward?, searching within yourself, spreading out, is a liberation, a new awareness. It is the opening of all doors before oneself. Simple, clear and easy.

“This is the song of freedom! Sing it with me! Come and be my friend!?

Credo – A Hymn to Love and Happiness

Ancient Iranian irfan (gnostic wisdom) is about a path and a process. It constitutes a different approach to being and existence.

Iranian irfan is also a journey towards self-knowledge. A path towards success, towards a happier life, a way of overcoming difficulties, reducing pain and suffering. It is a song and a prayer for those in pain and in love.

This paper though, is about my path and my outlook, both of which have their roots at the heart of this type of irfan.

* Thse are my dialogues with myself and with life. Dialogues that have gone on for many years and which have been written, very spontaneously, over a very few days. They run along one of the byways, or maybe one of the many unmarked and unmapped tracks that can be followed. Do not regard it as a model. Just read it, think about it and try taking a step in that direction. Add to it if you wish, but in pursuing or copying it do not bring about its demise.

The love that binds me to you is the love that binds the tree to the land and the land to the tree. That binds a bird to a tree and a tree to a bird. Earth to sky and sky to earth. All around, ‘being’ and ‘existence’ are plunged in an ocean of Love. Allow Love to be your only faith, your only prayer.

* Come, start by putting a flower in a vase. Light a candle. Have a drink of water. Listen to some soothing music. Close your eyes for a while and in that peace and quiet let a spark of light, a smile, a sea, a grain of sand, a cloud, carry you away. Go! Fly! Dive into that sea! On the wings of the wind and the waves, fly! On the rooftop of your heart alight, and then, cleansed and at peace, whisper this blessing and benediction.

* Whenever your heart so desires, return to it, repeat it

.* In the morning, when you wake up, open the window and say, “Good morning to you today!?

* Life is the playing of a musical instrument in a huge orchestra.

* Suffering is a sultan that grants you sagacity.

* Suffering is the mother of art and beauty.

* Do not drown in grief. Observe it, enjoy it!

* Grief is deep, dark, silent and beautiful. Full of wonderful harmony.

* Celebrate every event that occurs. Celebrate grief as well. Grief is a silent flower that has opened in the depth of your soul.

* When you are grief-stricken, throw a party and invite grief to dance!

* Sing, pray, dance! Celebrate grief.

* If, like a knight errant, you can celebrate and dance, then when death comes knocking you will celebrate that coming and smiling and happy, you shall bid farewell to the world. Death cannot kill you.

* The knight errant is that happy, dancing, impassioned one who goes in search of the Friend.

* Life does not mean ageing. It means growing.

* I speak of joy, not of enjoyment.

* Do not share your last fish with those that are hungry. Teach them how to fish.

* The “journey within? is both the foundation and the first step in life.

* Childhood is the best age for the journey within.

* To journey within is to step into the Valley of Eternity. It is a step forward into the eternity within. It means understanding the value of the wonders that lie therein.

* Come and listen. Once more, be simple, like a child. Love the rubber balls, the hobby-horses, the marbles, the playful balloons and the smiling dolls! Love them as you once

did!

* Be playful and play – with the birds, with the dolls, with the sand!

* This miracle can only be the result of the “journey within�?.

* The “journey within? is a clear, simple way. It is a journey towards and within the mirror of the soul. Peaceful and calm, sit with yourself, speak to yourself, shower yourself with kindness.

* The “journey within? is a flower. Kindness is the perfume of that flower.

* The “journey within? has no framework, no format and no direction. It is awareness.

* The “journey within�? is nothing more than an endeavour to better the world of existence. A search for renewal. An effort to find the secrets of life and of this awareness.

* The second step in life and one of its characteristics is to be a pilgrim. Set out on a pilgrimage. Like a knight on a mission, liberated and free, arms wide open, dancing away!

* Have an answer for the rustling of the trees, the chirping of the birds and the brilliant sun. Salute the flowers! Salute the ravens! Salute the stars!

* Do not stay alone. With yourself ponder and contemplate.

* Loneliness is to be heavy-hearted because you are alone. To contemplate is to find yourself.

* Old customs, ancient and dried out concepts cause the Tree of Life to wither.

* Life means to be ever-seeking, ever-searching. Not for arrival at a goal, or because you have an aim in mind, but just for the seeking and the searching. Go on the pilgrimage of life. Be sure to look under the rain.

* “Becoming? is the joyful, searching side of “Being?.

* Discovering the existential, inner core of one’s being is the start of living. From then on, every moment of life is accompanied by a new discovery. Every instant offers the gift of a new happiness. A new mystery opens its doors for you and a new passion grows within you.

* Then, your heart and intellect become more alert and more aware and a raindrop, a pebble or a petal assume the width and breadth of a galaxy!

* This subtle awareness creates a new bond of affection between you and other things. Between you and trees, you and birds, you and mountains, stars…

* From then on life is no longer a pond, but an ocean, and your life no longer rotates within a small circle of family and friends, but flows through all of existence!

* The journey inward presents you with the gift of awareness, of compassion, of affinity and of attachment to the world. We are integrally connected to this world. All the particles and atoms of existence, together and in each others’ arms, gather for a

magnificent and brilliant dance.

* Another discovery on this journey within is the magnificent silence that exists there. In this silence enchanting music is heard.

* With the heightened awareness that this journey produces, the feeling of love increases and permeates each moment of your life, filling it with sama’ ( music and song performed in soufi circles) and celebration.

* Genuine joy must well up within you and within your life. Life must be a constant celebration. A celebration of laughter and happiness. So turn each event into a celebration.

* Come, let us go to the refreshing streets of songs and sonnets.

* Come, and with reed pipes, viols, tambourines and guitars let us blend heartbeats with the throbbing of existence.

* Without ears listen! Without eyes look! Without yourself into ‘your self’ enter!

* Do you hear the songs of the stars? Do you hear the flapping of angels’ wings? Did you look at the smiling rainbow of the stones? Did you watch the dance of rain- drops?

* Love them all – people, stones, and stars!

* Listen to the bright smiles of stones, flowers and water. The whisperings of the earth and of trees cherish, appreciate.

* Salute the lovely eyes of the raven. To the colourful wings of the dragon fly pray.

* Live fully! With all your heart, with all your being, every moment!

* Live a luminous, well-informed life. Set all the masks aside.

* Cry out, saying: Look universe! This is Me! A me that has become beautiful! Come and see!

* When you are ill, at home or in hospital, change those moments of rest to moments of joy and beauty. Listen to music, read poetry.

* When you are ill call the doctor, but before that, call those who love you – and whom you love. Call those who can create an atmosphere of beauty and of joy. Those who listen more and speak little.

* No medicine is more potent or more magical than love.

* Always be creative and from the worst create the best!

* Befriend virtue by saluting good and its creation.

* If you offer every moment of life to creativity, joy and love, death becomes the supreme moment of life.

* Start with the journey within and witness the development and unfolding of silence, clarity, sensitivity and joy within yourself.

* Whatever you learn from your journey within apply in your daily life. Share it with others, for anything shared soon increases.

* The “journey within�? is not a journey in time or space. It is an instantaneous awakening that lives on forever.

* The “journey within�? is a bird with the two wings of love and freedom.

* A human being is born free, without any religion or beliefs.

* Power is a wooden throne placed on the shoulders of fear and ignorance. Any religion or belief that attains power eliminates others from the scene. In the future human beings will break the back of power with wisdom and love.

* Take a pen and in every book and dictionary cross out the words ‘curse’, ‘scourge’, and ‘gun’.

* Those that have made the world a prison for humanity and put ‘being’ in chains are no more than the jailers of a satanic order!

* All chains, barbed wire, firing squads and scaffolds must be wiped off the face of the earth, but first they must be plucked out of your heart! Flowers, birds and laughter are all that your heart and your world requires.

* As long as one prison or one chain still exist in this world, oppression and darkness will also exist.

* Have faith in what is young and burgeoning within you and within the world. Look favourably upon the upward surge of the mighty momentum of ‘being’.

* The first principle to learn is moral courage and bravery. Life involves travel and discovery in uncharted areas, including reaching up for the stars!

* Be brave and sacrifice everything at the feet of life, for nothing is more worthy.

* Learn this lesson: One must take risks. The world is not a house. It is a guest house. Life is a pilgrimage that has no beginning and no end. Beginnings and endings are characteristics of death. You are not concerned with death. You are concerned with life.

* Live each moment as if it is the very first.

* Seek and search! Swim deep in the sea of love. The day will come when the music within you will ring out and will intoxicate you.

* Life is a garden full of the red roses of love.

* Love is the dance of life.

* Love has a home in ‘being’. Love radiates from within someone who is a ‘somebody’.

Getting lost in ‘lostness’ is my religion

Non-being in ‘being’ is my faith.

* Love is a perfume and a freshness that has to be offered and shared with others.

* In loving others you find the necessary wisdom and intelligence to love the birds and the mountains as well.

Do not ask me about Love. Do not ask anyone. Ask Love.

* Love all human beings and in that pursuit be brave and valiant.

* Love matures only in love and in fertile ground fit for its cultivation.

* If love flows freely in the home then children will behave like creatures that have been born of the leaven of love.

* Solitude is a happy song. In the happiness of solitude sit in contemplation, with yourself.

* All the mysteries of ‘being’ unfold in silence.

* The first thing a human being does at birth is to cry. The first social intercourse after birth is a smile.

* If you can smile and cry you are alive.

Be happy, for whoever knows the secret

Knows that happiness begets happiness

* An aref (gnostic) is a happy person. Wherever he is, is a sacred place full of blessings and benediction. Wherever he goes he takes it with him.

* Sama’ (music and dancing at mystic meetings) and laughter are the best means to find peace on the journey within.

* Sama’ is the dancing – with abandon – of humans, trees and stones, that the music creates. Listen to the music of existence which you can hear flowing in the song of the birds, flight of the leaves, and in the flapping of the wings of the waves of the sea.

* The sea! An eternal sama’. Look! Listen!

* Happiness and freedom ever go hand in hand.

* Bid farewell to yesterday. Live today. Salute tomorrow.

* From top to bottom the world of existence is one of song and dance.

* Be happy! Dance! Roll, like rolling rain drops in the wind. Dance in such a way that both wind and raindrops cease to exist. Nothing remains but the dance.

* In a world full of enmity and grief become the troubadour of love and happiness.

* When you forget what laughter is you shall also forget the songs and the music, as well as the children and the birds.

* The sacred place of love exists in everyone’s heart. It has simply been forgotten.

* Without love a human being is a dark, star-less night.

* We are born to be loved and to love in return.

* Love is a cascade of moral heroism, radiance and peace.

* “The way? is very simple. You need to be in tune with Nature.

* There is nothing beyond ‘being’ but the realm of nothingness. Here there are roads and more roads. Highways and byways and forgotten tracks. Go! Along the byways and back ways, along forsaken tracks!

* The home is the seat, the foundation and the establishment of affection, peace and quiet.

* With light, music and joy fill your home and yourself to overflowing. Let joy dance up and down the walls.

* Shower your home with flowers. Make it a garden. Let this glorious place of blessings and benediction dance with perfume, light and colour!

* Wipe the dust off the face of the lamp, the mirror and the vase, so that they can smile

and thank you and chat with you.

* Come, comb your hair! Dress up! Look in the mirror! Beauty and happiness have doubled!

* Drink a cup of tea! But first, salute the teacup! Breathe in the aroma! Just as if you ar at a sacred and splendid feast!

* Did you send greetings to the shining grains of rice? Did you thank the mint and the other herbs at your table? Did you truly appreciate the fragrance of the bread?

* Understand the true nature of water. Slowly, drink from your glass and at each sip grant it a smile.

* At your table, which is the prayer niche of your home, bestow praise and blessings!

Light a candle, place a flower, so that light, colour and perfume can cast a glow of happiness over your ‘prayer’ table.

* Come and pitch a tent in the garden of the soul. Let us rain like a raining tambourine! On a reed pipe let us play a soulful tune.

* Life is an art. This must be learnt and cherished.

* ‘Others’ are flowers that are thirsty for water, sun and kindness.

* Put all religions aside! Your religion: love, vision, and play!

Set fire to and burn this religious belief

Love I place before you, in place of that brief.