I love reserving the silent meditations for Sundays. And while today’s Hafez quotes are great for leading us into silence, they make me hopeful for humanity as well.
Hafez was a Muslim Sufi who lived in Iran during the 1300’s, just after “The Crusades” when all of the Christian and Muslim world was at war with one another. And if he could see a beautiful unity in all religions back then, then surely we can also:
“I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew. The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel, or even a pure Soul. Love has befriended me so completely it has turned to ash and freed me of every concept and image my mind has ever known.” – Hafez
“I am in love with every church, And mosque, And temple, And any kind of shrine because I know it is there that people say the different names of the One God.” – Hafez
Hafez extends the thought of finding the same one God in the holy places of every religion to the possibility of seeing seeing God in everyone and everything:
BELOVED EVERYWHERE
“Start seeing everything as God. But keep it a secret. Become like a man who is awestruck and nourished listening to a golden nightingale sing in a beautiful foreign language while God – invisible to most – nests upon its tongue. When a dog runs up to you wagging its ecstatic tail, you lean down and whisper in its ear, ‘Beloved, I am so glad you are happy to see me. Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad you have come.’” – Hafez
“Everyone Is God speaking. Why not be polite and Listen to God?” – Hafez
I particularly love the thought: “…see everything as God, but keep it a secret…” which to me says yes, develop the ability to see God in everything but don’t go around trying to convince everyone to see things your way. Allow people to show up just as they are, and make it YOUR job to see them as God.
“A day of Silence can be a pilgrimage in itself. A day of Silence can help you listen to the Soul play its marvelous lute and drum. Is not most talking A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?” – Hafez
Make a regular practice of silence and you’ll find stillness to be a pilgrimage in and of itself. A pilgrimage to where you may ask? Just like any other holy pilgrimage it leads to the presence of God which – if you have learned to see God in everything – you’ll know that the most profound presence of God is to be found in the stillness of YOU.
A few thoughts to reflect on:
- Learn to see God in everything, and everyone.
- Cultivate a sense of awe and wonder in the smallest things.
- Allow others to express their own spirituality, in their own way.
- The most profound presence of God is to be found in the stillness of your own heart.
By cultivating a sense of awe, wonder, and respect for all beings, we can find the divine in every moment, every encounter, and every aspect of our lives. As we journey inward, we may discover that the most profound presence of God is to be found in the stillness of our own hearts.
Have a beautiful Sunday.
– pierre –
Today’s LIVE meditation is: Finding silence.