It’s raining in NYC today, and soon the sun will set and the 50th night, wet, will fall on Mount Sinai, and blintze will roll and we will gather to ascend.
Three poems for tonight – from the children of Abraham – Sufi, Jewish, and Christian mystical reminder of a night of wonder, a reunion with mystery, the unlocking of the gates to the inner temple of love.
Tonight is Keter – the crown, the upper spheres, the unexpected.
“All night, listen to the conversation. Stay up.
This moment is all there is.
I’m through. Read the rest of this poem in the dark tonight.”
When the king had died, a pauper,
barefooted and hungry, came and sat on
the throne. ‘God,’ he whispered, ‘the eye
of man cannot bear to look directly at the
sun, for they are blinded. How then,
Omnipotent, can they look directly at
you? Have pity, Lord; tmper your
strength, turn down your splendor so
that I, who am poor and afflicted, may
see you!’
Then-listen, old man!- God became a
piece of bread, a cup of cool water, a
warm tunic, a hut, and in front of the hut,
a woman giving suck to an infant. ‘Thank
you, Lord,’ he whispered. ‘You humbled
yourself for my sake. You became bread,
water, a warm tunic and my wife and my
son in order that I may see you. And I did
see you. I bow down and worship your
beloved many-faced face!’ “
(Nikos Kazantzakis,
The Last Temptation of Christ)
Don’t go to sleep one night.
What you most want will come to you then.
Warmed by a sun inside, you’ll see wonders.
Tonight, don’t put your head down.
Be tough, and strength will come.
That which adoration adores
appears at night. Those asleep
may miss it. One night Moses stayed awake
and asked, and saw a light in a tree.
Then he walked at night for ten years,
until finally he saw the whole tree
illuminated. Muhammad rode his horse
through the night sky. The day is for work.
The night for love. Don’t let someone
Bewitch you. Some people sleep at night.
But not lovers. They sit in the dark and talk to God,
who told David,
Those who sleep all night every night
and claim to be connected to us, they lie.
Lovers can’t sleep when they feel the privacy of the beloved all around them. Someone who’s thirsty may sleep for a little while,
but he or she will dream of water, a full jar
beside a creek, or the spiritual water you get
from another person. All night, listen to the conversation. Stay up.
This moment is all there is.
I’m through. Read the rest of this poem in the dark tonight.
(Jelauddin Rumi)
There are external and internal keys, for this world has much which is hidden, and the children of Israel must open all gates- be as vessels, appropriate to receive and be open to receive Torah… and then the higher gates open, and this is also the opening of the inner gate, the gate of the Inner Temple.
Sfat Emet
Thank you for joining me on this pilgriamge of love.
