“You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

- Steve Jobs, Commencement speech at Stanford University, 2005

Ya Haqq!

The Sufi Message of Love, Harmony, and Beauty

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

“The Sufi sees the truth in every religion. If invited to offer prayers in a Christian church, the Sufi is ready to do so. The Sufi will go the synagogue and pray as the Jews do; will offer Salat with Muslims; and in the Hindu temple worships the same God. Yet the Sufi’s true temple, the true mosque, is the human heart, in which the divine Beloved lives. Sufism is a religion if one wants to learn religion from it; it is a philosophy if one wants to learn wisdom from it; it is mysticism if one wants to be guided by it in the unfoldment of the soul; and yet it is beyond all these things. It is the light of life which is the sustenance of every soul. It is the Message of Love, Harmony, and Beauty.”

- Hazrat Inayat Khan

Ya Haqq!

Teaching by Example

“Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.”

- St. Francis of Assisi

Image: Wood engraving “St. Francis, Sermon to the Birds.” (1952) by Fritz Eichenberg, Quaker Artist (1901 – 1990).

Ya Haqq!

Google Ebook of Master of the Jinn Now Available in 14 Countries

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

The Google Ebook of Master of the Jinn is now available for $3.82 in the US, and comparable pricing in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Russia, Japan, and South Korea. More countries to come soon :) And you can read it on your PC or Mac, Tablet, iPad, iPhone, Nook, Sony, or Smartphone :) Click HERE to order.

Ya Haqq!

The Guy in the Glass Poem (Man in the Mirror)

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you king for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t a man’s father, mother or wife,
Whose judgement upon him must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in life,
Is the man staring back from the glass.
He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test,
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But the final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

= Dale Wimbrow, first published in The American Magazine in 1934.

LISTEN to the Master of the Jinn Audiobook Sample :)

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

PLEASE HELP!!! I have started working on recording the Audiobook of Master of the Jinn. Please go to the link and listen to part of the Prologue, which is the first trial run, and let me know what you think. Does it sound clear? is the pacing ok? etc. I had to put it on the website since WordPress does not accept MP3 files. If your browser does not supoort it, email me at Irvingk1945 at gmail dot com and I will email it to you.

http://masterofthejinn.com/author.html

Thank You for Helping :)

Ya Haqq!

Rumi’s Easter Poem – Happy Easter 2013 :)

Salaam and Greetings of Peace:

Easter is Sunday, March 31st this year, and I pray we all know at least once in our lives the rebirth of faith and love which is manifest each spring in the story of Jesus (pbuh).  And so, once again, here is Rumi’s beautiful homage:

________________

Everyone has eaten and fallen asleep. The house is empty. We walk out to the garden to let the apple meet the peach, to carry messages between rose and jasmine.

Spring is Christ,
Raising martyred plants from their shrouds.
Their mouths open in gratitude, wanting to be kissed.
The glow of the rose and the tulip means a lamp is inside.
A leaf trembles. I tremble in the wind-beauty like silk from Turkestan.
The censer fans into flame.

This wind is the Holy Spirit.
The trees are Mary.
Watch how husband and wife play subtle games with their hands.
Cloudy pearls from Aden are thrown across the lovers,
as is the marriage custom.

The scent of Joseph’s shirt comes to Jacob.
A red carnelian of Yemeni laughter is heard
by Muhammad in Mecca.

We talk about this and that. There’s no rest except on these branching moments.

- Jalaluddin Rumi, from The Essential Rumi, by Coleman Barks

Ya Haqq!