Gratitude

Widening Circles - by Rilke

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I've been circling for thousands of years
and I still don't know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?

Book of Hours, I 2
(translation by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows)

Yahia Lababidi, Egyptian poet, celebrates the power of poetry to bring us closer to the Divine:
http://www.onbeing.org/blog/yahia-lababidi-in-embracing-we-let-go/8705

"Widening Circles" by Rainer Maria Rilke - read by Yahia Lababidi

The Guest House 


This being human is a guest house. 
Every morning a new arrival. 

A joy, a depression, a meanness, 
some momentary awareness comes 
as an unexpected visitor. 

Welcome and entertain them all! 
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, 
who violently sweep your house 
empty of its furniture, 
still, treat each guest honorably. 
He may be clearing you out 
for some new delight. 

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.
 

- The Essential Rumi, version by Coleman Barks

[Yahia Lababidi is an Egyptian poet; his latest book is: "The Artist as Mystic" a collaboration on a series of conversations, exploring the ecstatic dimension in literature: http://amzn.com/e/B0042SRQWG ]

The Guest House, by Rumi - Read by Yahia Lababidi

Lost and Found by Gary Zmolek read by Gary Zmolek

Spanish Dancer by Rainer Maria Rilke, read by Peter Danbury

The Silken Tent by Robert Frost read by Gary Zmolek

Aubade in Autumn by Peter Everwine, read by Sondra Morin

Today like every other day by Rumi tr. Coleman Barks  read by Mark Johnson

The Art of Storm-Riding by Yahia Lababidi read by Gary Zmolek

Desert Places by Robert Frost read by Gary Zmolek

Egyptian-American author of 11 critically-acclaimed books.  Lababidi's latest are: "Quarantine Notes" short meditations composed during our global pandemic & "Learning to Pray" a collection of his spiritual poems & aphorisms.

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/author/yahialababidi

"Widening Circles" by Rainer Maria Rilke - read by Yahia Lababidi

Yahia Lababidi

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