“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

“This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor...Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

“Each moment from all sides rushes to us the call to love. We are running to contemplate its vast green field.Do you want to come with us?”

“O my choice beautyYou've goneBut your love remains in my heartYour image in my eyeO guide on my winding roadI keep turning round and round in the hopes ofFinding you”

“For ages you have come and gonecourting this delusion.For ages you have run from the painand forfeited the ecstasy.So come, return to the root of the rootof your own soul.Although you appear in earthly formYour essence is pure Consciousness.You are the fearless guardianof Divine Light.So come, return to the root of the rootof your own soul.When you lose all sense of selfthe bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.Lose yourself completely,Return to the root of the rootof your own soul.You descended from Adam, by the pure Word of God,but you turned your sightto the empty show of this world.Alas, how can you be satisfied with so little?So come, return to the root of the rootof your own soul.Why are you so enchanted by this worldwhen a mine of gold lies within you?Open your eyes and come ---Return to the root of the rootof your own soul.You were born from the rays of God's Majestywhen the stars were in their perfect place.How long will you suffer from the blowsof a nonexistent hand?So come, return to the root of the rootof your own soul.You are a ruby encased in granite.How long will you decieve Us with this outer show?O friend, We can see the truth in your eyes!So come, return to the root of the rootof your own soul.After one moment with that glorious Friendyou became loving, radiant, and ecstatic.Your eyes were sweet and full of fire.Come, return to the root of the rootof your own soul.Shams-e Tabriz, the King of the Tavernhas handed you an eternal cup,And God in all His glory is pouring the wine.So come! Drink!Return to the root of the rootof your own soul.Soul of all souls, life of all life - you are That.Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving - you are That.The road that leads to the City is endless;Go without head and feetand you'll already be there.What else could you be? - you are That.”

“Hear this if you can:If you want to reach himYou have to go beyond yourselfAnd when you finally arrive at the land of absenceBe silentDon’t say a thingEcstasy, not words, is the language spoken there”

“Some Hindus have an elephant to show.No one here has ever seen an elephant.They bring it at night to a dark room.One by one, we go in the dark and come out saying how we experience the animal.One of us happens to touch the trunk.A water-pipe kind of creature.Another, the ear. A strong, always movingback and forth, fan-animal. Another, the leg.I find it still, like a column on a temple.Another touches the curve back.A leathery throne. Another, the cleverest,feels the tusk. A rounded sword made of porcelain.He is proud of his description.Each of us touches one placeand understands the whole in that way.The palm and the fingers feeling in the darkare how the senses explore the reality of the elephant.If each of us held a candle there,and if we went in together, we could see it.”