God, the cause of all

I must say at once that all the reasons showing that
God exists and is the first and unchangeable cause of all effects that don’t depend on human free will seem to me to show equally that he is also the cause of all the effects that do depend on it. For the only way to demonstrate that he exists is to consider him as a supremely perfect being; and
he wouldn’t be supremely perfect if anything could happen in the world that didn’t come entirely from him. It’s true that only faith can teach us what that grace is by which God raises us to a supernatural beatitude; but unaided philosophy shows us that not even the slightest thought could enter into a human mind without God’s willing it to
do so. . . . The scholastic distinction between universal and particular causes is irrelevant here. ·Here’s an example of it·: The sun is the universal cause of all flowers, but isn’t the ·particular· cause of the difference between tulips and roses. But that is because the production of flowers depends also on other particular causes that aren’t subordinated to the sun. ·Obviously that is irrelevant to our present topic, because· God is the universal cause of everything in such a way that he is also the total cause—·the sole cause·—of everything; so nothing can happen without his will.

Descartes

Moving Water

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river
moving in you, a joy.

When actions come from another section, the feeling
disappears.

Don't let others lead you.

They may be blind or, worse, vultures.

Reach for the rope
of God.

And what is that? Putting aside self-will.
Because of willfulness
people sit in jail, the trapped bird's wings are tied,
fish sizzle in the skillet.
The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen a magistrate
inflict visible punishment. Now
see the invisible. If you could leave your selfishness, you
would see how you've
been torturing your soul.

We are born and live inside black water in a well.
How could we know what an open field of sunlight is?

Don't insist on going where
you think you want to go.

Ask the way to the spring.

Your living pieces will forma harmony.

There is a moving palace that floats in the air
with balconies and clear
water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained
under a single tent.

जब तेरे कदम उधर चलें
जिधर तुम्हारी आत्मा कहे
तो तेरे भीतर एक नदी बहती है - प्रसन्नता की ।


अस्तित्व के किसी और कोने से आई आवाज़
तुम्हें भटकाती है -
तेरी ख़ुशी, तेरा सुकून छीनती है -
तब तेरे भीतर नहीं बहती नदी - प्रसन्नता की ।


किसी और के अनुगामी मत बनना
उनके बाहर भीतर अँधेरा है


रोशन-सी एक राह है
जो ईश्वर तक जाती है


और यह राह क्या है?
अपने अहम् को छोड़ना


अहम् के कारण ही
लोग जेल जाते हैं-
पंछी जाल में फंसते हैं-
मछली कांटे में फंसती है।


अहम् छोड़ने पर ही
तुम जान पाओगे
तुम्हारी आत्मा किन जुल्मों के पीछे दबी थी


एक गहरे कुँए के काले पानी में जन्म लेने वाले
और उसी में पूरी जिंदगी गुजारने वाले हम क्या जानें
कि एक खुले मैदान में फैली धूप कैसी होती है ?


वहाँ जाने की जिद मत करो
जहां तुम जाना चाहते हो


उस राह की खोज करो
जो जलस्रोत तक जाती है।










Rumi