THE WAY OF LOVE

Rumi’s love for GOD was a fiery one, with a constant weeping and longing for God’s mysteries. Love for anything other than God is not real Love: ‘Wherever I put my head that is my place of worship. No matter where I am, that is where God is. Vineyards, roses, nightingales, the Sema and loving . . . They are all symbols, the reason is always Him.’ GOD is the Beloved and Rumi bewails his separation from Him, as the Ney(Flute) weeps at its separation from the reed bed whence it came and longs for return. He experienced love and passion both through his solitary asceticism and his communal engagements and said: ‘The way of God’s Messenger is the way of Love. We are the children of Love. Love is our mother.’ It was in his solitariness that he became most open to the truest union with God, and it was in his separation from all things except God that he became like a ball of fire. And while such a sense of burning would prove difficult for many to bear, Rumi, considered it an essential part of passion, and not complaining was viewed as a tradition of loyalty. To him, those who profess a love of God must necessarily accompany their statement of ‘I love’ with a sense of furious burning—this is the price one must willingly pay for being close to God or in union with Him: ‘I was raw; I am now cooked and burnt.’

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Happy New Year 2008!

I wish you the best!

Cyrus day

29th OCT : Cyrus day

Cyrus II the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. As leader of the Persian people in Anshan, he conquered the Medes and unified the two separate Iranian kingdoms; as the king of Persia, he reigned over the new empire from 550 BC until his death. The empire expanded under his rule, eventually conquering most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest state the world had yet seen.

During his twenty-nine year reign, Cyrus fought against some of the greatest states of the early Classical period, including the Median Empire, the Lydian Empire, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in August 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to conquer Egypt during his short rule.

Cyrus Cylinder

The cylinder has been considered as the world's first known charter of human rights, as there are passages in the text have been interpreted as expressing Cyrus’ respect for humanity. It promotes a form of religious tolerance and freedom, and the abolishment of slavery. He allowed his subjects to continue worshipping their gods, despite his own religious beliefs. In 1971, the United Nations published a translation of the document in all the official U.N. languages. A replica of the Cyrus Cylinder has reportedly been on display at United Nations headquarters in New York City as a tribute to Cyrus' display of respect and tolerance.

Rumi's year

The Persian poet

The garden of Love is green without limit

and yields many fruits

other than sorrow and joy.

Love is beyond either condition:

without spring,without autumn,it is always fresh.

Jelaluddin Rumi ( Iranian Poet )